Rewriting History
by Hairann
Summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Full summary inside. Connected one-shots for The Spectrum Challenge on Dokuga Contest.
1. Angry battlefield and Timeless love

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

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Title: Angry battlefield and Timeless love

Author: Hairann

Prompt: Spectrum Challenge - Red

Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort

AU/CU: CU/Divergence

Rating: T for now

Warnings: Violence, character deaths, set in past tense.

Word Count: 4583

Summary: Kagome makes a wish that changes the course of history.

Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 1 of Rewriting History.

AN: As I am sure all of you know, colors can be used to represent both negative and positive things, for example: Red can refer to anger and blood or love, passion and romance. And that's what I am doing with this story, showing both sides of the spectrum. Each chapter will give examples for both the Yin and Yang of the color it represents. For the story itself, this has been sitting on my back burner since before Alpha, yes it's quite old, but I never really knew where to take it. I started reading up on the rules for this challenge, mostly cause I love Perphila's Faulty Fairytails and I am addicted to banners, and the colors reminded me of this story. I do not know how often I will update, as this is behind two stories (Mates and Voluntary), but it shouldn't be too long between updates.

***

It was official, hell was on earth. It was the end of the world, end of life as we knew it. The final curtain, the seven hells had frozen over. And any other saying there was to describe this moment in time, throw those in. Today was the day, right now the very moment. The battle we had been heading toward over the last three years was here. Correct, the battle with Naraku. But this was not a battle, it was so much more.

It was a bloodbath, plan and simple. The sun was blocked out by the thousands of lesser demons the half-demon had brought along with him. Naraku's incarnations littered the battlefield. His ever regenerating body was fueled by the almost complete Shikon jewel, in fact, the only shard he was missing was the one I was currently holding. He sent Kagura and Kanna to double team Kouga, stealing the two shards from his legs.

Personally ripped the shard out of Kohaku's back in front of Sango's eyes. The only shard he did not have in his possession was the one we retrieved from Inu no Taisho's tomb, which was living a solitary life in the vial around my neck. The battlefield around me was littered with the bodies of demons, as well as some of my friends and allies. Kouga was lying bleeding and battered off to the side. Miroku lay dead on the ground not far from him, having taken his own life when Naraku decided to control the Wind Tunnel and use it against us.

Sango lay dead resting on his chest, she had refused to leave his side. Jaken and the two-headed dragon were dead at my feet. They had died protecting Rin and, so far, it was not been in vain since she was currently hiding behind me. Scared to death, but untouched thus far. Shippo held his normal perch on my shoulder while Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru tried to fight all of the demons off together. And what was I doing, you wonder?

Why I am standing here with the children, unable to do anything to help out the two brothers. You see, Kagura's first job when she arrived on the battlefield was to relieve me of my bow and arrows. And of course, I had not had any time to start training with another weapon, so I was pretty much defenseless. I do not know about you, but I think if there ever was a time for me to just instantaneously become all powerful, or heck even turning into a demon for no reason whatsoever, this would be the time.

But no, no massive powers forming out of no where that I can control without any training whatsoever, no finding out I was really a demon and that it was just concealed by a spell. No such luck, I remained little miss untrained, weak miko. No demon blood suddenly coursing through my veins. Just little 'ole me. I felt as useless as Inuyasha always claimed I was. And so here I stood, while the brothers began to lose. It is not fair that they could defeat the half-demon at least a dozen times and yet they would end up losing because he regenerates.

I turned to check on how Shippo was doing, only to find he was no longer on my shoulder. Glancing around the field, I could find no sign of him. Perhaps he ran off scared, but some how I doubted that. As scared as he had to be, he would always run to me never away from me. And I doubted he would run and leave Rin and I here alone. I can feel it, the end is coming. Inuyasha glanced my way once more, locking eyes with me, as he fell to the ground.

He did not get back up and I do not expect him to ever again. All that remained was Sesshoumaru now and he did not look like he would live long. Something seemed different than it was a moment before. Naraku seemed to be scanning the field around him with a scowl marring his face. Just as I am wondering what he was searching for, Shippo returned to my shoulder and handed me something. I could not believe it, it was the almost complete Shikon jewel.

I wondered how little Shippo could have possibly taken the jewel away from Naraku, but decided it would be better to dwell on it later. I wasted no time as I ripped the jar from around my neck and dropped the last shard into my hand. I could see Naraku charging toward me, Sesshoumaru trying to fight him off to give me more time. Quickly I fused the last shard to the jewel, the whole thing becoming purified with my touch.

For the first time in three years, I held within my hands the completed Shikon no Tama. Naraku was close now, I did not have much time to make my wish. I knew it much be selfless and it needed to change history. I decided long ago, that I would not allow things to turn out the way they did, if I could help it. I knew of only one wish that would work. Naraku tackled me to the ground, the moment I opened my mouth to make my wish, his eyes glowing red with anger.

However, I could not let him stop me. I held the jewel away from him and quickly made my wish. "I wish Inuyasha had a positive influence when he was going up." Naraku sneered at me as he began to attack me with one of his tentacles, but it was already too late. The jewel disappeared back into my body as a bright, pink light flashed through the clearing, throwing him away from me. As I stood back up, time began to rewind on itself, as though I were watching a movie of our lives.

I watched as Inuyasha was unkilled, followed by Sango and then Miroku. Jaken and the dragon rose from where they had fallen. Next Kohaku's shard is replaced as well as the two within Kouga's legs. The demons, along with Naraku, faded off into the distance and Kouga was gone as well. Sesshoumaru's group walked backwards away from the field. But it did not stop there. Time continued to rewind as I stood there unable to do anything but watch.

I saw the fight where we killed Hakudoshi, when Kikyou was killed by Naraku again. I watched as Sango and Miroku got married, as Kaede passed away. I saw Inuyasha and myself, sitting in the tree near the village, my feet bandaged, covering the wounds inflicted by stomach acid. I watched as Inuyasha placed a shard within his sword and we fought our way out of the demon's belly. Saw us in Inu no Taisho's tomb.

I rewitnessed our battles with the Band of Seven, countless demons until we met up with Sango, Miroku joining us. I saw Kikyou being brought back to life, Shippo joining us and fighting with the Thunder Brothers, Yura of the hair. Finally I saw Inuyasha, once again, pinned to the God Tree as I reached up to rub his dog ears. It did not stop there, time kept rewinding on itself, and I wondered just how much of history was changed by my wish.

I watched as Inuyasha and Kikyou were tricked by Naraku, when they first met and still it continued, showing me places and times I had never seen before. Showed me the life Inuyasha led long before I met him and our story began. Finally, after what seemed like forever, time stopped. I glanced around the clearing where the battle with Naraku had taken place mere minutes ago for me, though it had yet to happen for the rest of the world. "When exactly am I?"

***

I decided that just standing there would get me no where and began walking in the direction I was pulled it. I could not explain why I was pulled that way, I just knew that I was and so I walked. By the cool air around me and the few darkened leaves still on the trees overhead, I guessed that I had arrived in the late autumn. I hoped I could find where I was supposed to be before winter set in, and that where ever that was, there would be some kind of shelter from the incoming snow.

I did not understand why I was here, why I was brought back further in time. I had figured with my wish the wrongs would have been erased and I would be returned to my time, never having come here in the first place. I did not want to lose the memories of my friends, but if it saved them from all the pain I knew they would go through, it would be worth it. Sighing, I glanced around to get my barrings and once again could feel a tug on my soul, pulling me in another direction.

It seemed that whatever I was being led to was moving around, what seemed to be a who. I thought I perhaps had it figured out, that the fates had decided that I would be the positive influence in Inuyasha's life and that was where I was being led to. If so, I wondered how old he was at that moment. Between there being little to no points in time that I knew of before he met Kikyou, and with not knowing how half-demons aged, I could not begin to take a guess.

If my guess was correct, then I do not know what the fates had been thinking. I am merely a human and would die long before I could make any difference in his life. But why would they send me back for my wish, only to not be able to fulfill it? I knew the fates could be tricky at times, my life if anything had proven that, but they always made more sense than that to me. Not waiting for an answer, I continued walking in the direction I was pulled, doing a quick, mental inventory of everything I had with me.

Thankfully, I had just gone back to restock a few days before so I still had plenty of supplies, though I was of course missing my bow and arrows. I knew I would need to stop by the nearest village to see if I could borrow some from their priestess. I glanced toward the horizon to see the beginning stages of dusk as the sun began to sink behind the mountain range. I needed to find a village quickly as I had no desire to walk around unarmed at night.

I made my way over the next ridge, unable to stop myself from smiling as I spotted a small village nestled at the bottom of the hill, only a few minutes walk from where I was. I picked up my pace, as I headed into the village, quickly meeting an elderly man that, by the looks of it, was the village head. "Good evening, does this village happen to have a priestess?" I questioned as I shot him a bright smile, hoping he would not ask any questions about the way I was dressed.

"Yes, miko-sama lives in that hut," he answered, pointing toward a small, one room hut off in the corner of the village. I gave him a quick bow, turned and headed for the hut, not wanting to give him time to say anything else. I ignored the strange looks the villagers gave me as I passed, quickly making my way to the hut and knocked on the door. After a moment, it opened to reveal an elderly woman, probably around Kaede's age before she died, decked out in priestess garments.

"Can I help you child?" she inquired, a pleasant smile lighting her wrinkled face as she stepped aside so I could enter her home. Not giving me the chance to speak, she pointed toward a cushion on the floor as she sat upon the one across from it and began preparing tea over the small fire. I smiled at her hospitality, taking the seat across from her, and explained how I was in need of a new bow and arrows, that I was willing to help out around the village to trade for them as I did not have any money.

By the time we were sipping on the hot, steamy tea she had prepared, she was agreeing to give me both them and a set of garments if I helped her out in the sick hut that night. Of course, I quickly agreed and once the cups were empty, we made our way there. A few hours later found us back at her hut, her offerring to put me up for the night and me accepting as I did not wish to sleep outside alone. Another cup of tea later, we bedded down for the night.

***

The next morning, mere minutes after dawn, I headed out of the village, decked out in my new priestess garments, with my bag and bow thrown over my shoulders. I had eaten an early breakfast with the older priestess before she bid me goodbye and went to check on the sick hut again. Already I could feel the pull on my soul, telling me which direction I should head in and so I followed it. For hours I walked, only taking a small break for lunch, before I continued on.

It was near dinner time that night when I finally reached my destination and learned I was indeed correct. I had been sent back to be the one to help Inuyasha, who looked like he was about three by human standards, perhaps a little older. He had not been hard to spot, his long, white hair and cute, little doggy ears kind of stood out. He was sitting underneath a large tree, watching other children playing with a ball.

As I stood there and watched, the children were all called in for supper by their mothers, except for him. Already I felt sorry for my long time friend and made my way over to where he was seated. "Hello Inuyasha," I greeted him with a smile as I sat down nearby, careful not to get too close that he would have seen me as a threat. He returned the greeting by sniffing me a few times, probably trying to figure out if I was friend or foe.

Something told me that right then, much like the rest of his life, he had few of the former and too many of the latter. "Who are ya and what'cha want?" he demanded after giving me a slight huff and jamming his hands into the sleeves of his fire rat haori. I just stared at him for a few moments, not really sure how to answer him. It was not like I could just say that I came from the future after making a wish on the Shikon to Tama to give him a better life.

"My name is Kagome and I am a friend," I finally replied, giving him my brightest smile, figuring since it had always worked on the older Inuyasha, why not the younger. Though judging by the look he gave me, it did not work quite as well as I would have liked. "I am a friend, how else would I know your name, Inuyasha? And I was sent here to help you."

"You don't smell familiar, how can you be a friend if I don't know your scent? And you could have just asked someone what my name was," he told me with another huff and I was surprised to find the chibi Inuyasha was acting smarter than the adult version. That led me to my next problem, how to convince him that I was an ally when he was using his head, other than as some hard object to hit someone with as he usually did.

"Well that would be because you had not met me yet. Tell me Inuyasha, why have you not been called in by your mother for dinner yet?" I wondered, wanting to get his mind off of how I could be a friend if we had not met yet, but after a moment, I realized that she had probably already passed away. He glanced back toward the village sadly, remaining silent for a minute before he finally responded to me. The look in his golden eyes, almost brought tears to mine.

"Momma died last month and none of the villagers see any reason to feed a filthy hanyou," he replied with disgust and I wondered if it was directed toward the villagers or himself. Had he perhaps believed what people said about half-demons, when he was young? It was then that I realized he said she died a month ago, had he not been fed in that long?

I pushed the thoughts of screaming at the villagers out of my mind, for the moment, as I pulled my bag off of my shoulder and began going through it as I gathered what I would need for dinner. Once my portable stove, that my mother gave me for my birthday the year before, was set up, I began preparing a meal for us. "I don't want any of ya food," he insisted as he turned away from food and glared silently at the village.

"That is fine, but it seems awfully wrong to waste good food like that," I replied off handedly, so he would not think it matted to me if he ate or not. When the food was ready, I filled two bowls, sitting one down near him in case he changed his mind. It had only taken him about five seconds to do so and he was wolfing it down. I tried not to laugh at how much he seemed like my best friend at that moment as I began eating from my own bowl.

"This is good, what's this stuff anyways?" he questioned as he kept his eyes trained on the pot and held out his bowl for more. I quickly refilled it, watching as it disappeared as fast as the first had and he was soon asking for more. I gave him the last helping, thankful once again that I had just gone back for supplies and we would not run out soon. His food vanished in a flash and once he saw there was no more in the pan, he lost interest in me.

"It is called ramen and is from my village," I explained, as I gave him a smile. Having finished off my dinner, I collected the bowls and started packing up my cooking supplies. "I have more if you are still hungry later, but you should not eat anymore right now, it will just make you sick," I told him, the smile still present on my face, as I gestured toward my backpack that was at least half full of many different flavors of ramen, per his older self's request.

"So what'cha want for me anyways?" he questioned after a moment as I watched his ears twitch, picking up small sounds that my human ears could never dream of hearing. While I thought of the best way to explain things to him, I reached into my bag and brought out two bottles of water and handed him one after removing the cap. I took a couple of sips from my bottle and watched as he mimicked my actions.

"I want to help you. With your mom passing away and the other villagers leaving you to fend for yourself, I do not think it would be a good idea for you to stay near this village. I would like you to come with me. I would really enjoy having a friend to travel with," I told him with a smile, which again he did not seem to fall for. I realized then that, much like his future self, it would be difficult to gain his trust and friendship.

"Why would ya want to help me? I'm nothing but a half-breed and I don't need any friends," he huffed in reply as he stood and jumped into the branches of the tree he had been leaning against. I glanced over at the village wondering how, in the name of Kami, anyone could treat a child as they had treated him since his mother had died, and perhaps even since the day he was born. Though I was sure she had protected him from the brunt of it, I doubted he had escaped all of their hatred.

"I have no reason for wanting to help you other than that I just do. You may not need any friends, Inuyasha, but I could sure use one. It does not matter if you are a half-demon, titles such as this mean nothing to me. I make friends based on who they are not what they are. I realize you have no reason to trust me, I simply ask that you give me a chance to show you can," I told him as I glanced up into the tree to where I could barely make out his form in the darkening dusk.

"Ya gotta have a better reason than just cause ya want to. Why would ya want to be my friend? You're a priestess and priestesses hate all demons," he huffed from somewhere in the tree above me and I found myself praying to the Kami that he had not already had to deal with prejudice priestesses as I balled my hands up into fists. I had always hoped, that with everything he had to go through with Kikyou, that she had been the only one to create a dark spot on his life.

"Because Inuyasha, I know how hard your life if going to be simply because you are a half-demon and I want to do all that I can to make it better. No one deserves to go through what you will simply because of who and what their parents were. I realize I am probably strange for a priestess, but I do not hate all demons, only those that try to hurt others without cause. Just as I hate humans who do the same."

"Did you know my parents?" he questioned meekly from the tree and I knew that it was going to be fun to try and answer him. While I gave myself some time to figure out the best way, I patted the ground next to me and reached into my bag for a couple of lollipops. Once he jumped down and taken a seat, I unwrapped his and handed it over to him. Repeating the action with my own, I put it into my mouth and began lightly sucking on the sweet, cheery juices.

"I did have the honor of meeting your father once, but mostly I have just heard great things about them," I explained as I watched him take a careful lick of his lollipop before putting it into his mouth as he had seen me do. He seemed to think over what I said silently, though judging by his dubious expression, he did not believe me even for a moment. Though I could not blame him, what were the chances of an unknown priestess meeting the great dog demon general?

"You're not old enough to have met my dad, he died at least a few years before you were born. And what's so great about them anyways? They left me all alone in a world where everyone hurts me just 'cause I'm a half-breed," he spat back at me and again I found myself wanting to go strangle the villagers for their cruelty and stupidity. How anyone could harm a child, especially for something that was far outside of his control, was beyond me.

"I met him as a spirit, it is a long story that I will probably tell you one day, but it would not make any sense at the moment. I know that it might not seem like it right now, but your parents were really good people. Even with everything that was stacked against them, they managed to fall in love with each other. A love that was so deep, so pure, that most people can not even begin to imagine it, let alone experience it.

"Neither of them meant to leave you, Inuyasha, and I am sure they did everything they could not to. Your father, Inu no Taisho, was a great demon, feared and respected by all who knew him. On the day you were born, he had just fought a great demon named Ryukotsusei and was already injured when he came to your mother. He died protecting both of you so she could continue to live and so that you would be given the chance to live.

"Your mother, Izayoi, was a very beautiful woman who managed to catch the attention of a demon lord, not many humans would be able to do that, even less earning their love to such a degree that they would die for them. She continued to take care of you, even after she had lost her love and was no doubt heartbroken, so you would not be alone and because she loved you. I am sure if she could, she would still be with you now, your father too.

"I know it is not fair that you have already lost both of your parents or how the villagers treat you when you have no control over who you were born to, but that is why I want to take you away from here. With me, I will never let anyone treat you badly simply because you are a half-demon. There are so many beautiful things in this world and I want to show them to you, help you to experience the wonders that are out there just waiting to be discovered."

"But why do ya want to help me so much? What's in it for ya? And how do ya know so much about my parents if ya never met them in life?" he questioned and I could see the unshed tears in the corner of his golden eyes. I reached my arms out, embracing him as I pulled him into my lap. He instantly tried to get up, but I just held him tighter. I knew if he truly wished to get away he could with little effort, the fact that he did not gave me hope that I might be able to reach my future friend.

"I know what it is like to lose a parent, I too lost my father when I was young. I truly believe, Inuyasha, that you should never have to go through the things you have, and more than likely will, simply because of what you are, especially at such a young age. I swear to you, the only thing I hope to get out of this is a friend, which I am sorely lacking at the moment. I know what I do about your parents, because their story has been whispered to me during my travels across the land."


	2. Deceitful miko and Fascinated youkai

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

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Title: Deceitful miko and Fascinated youkai

Author: Hairann

Prompt: Spectrum Challenge - Orange

Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort

AU/CU: CU/Divergence

Rating: T for now

Warnings: Set in past tense.

Word Count: 6137

Summary: Kagome and Inuyasha began their new life, unaware a guest is on the way.

Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 2 of Rewriting History.

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Once I began running my fingers through his long, white hair, he had begun to relax, though his body remained slightly tense in my arms. I glanced up at the sky, deciding it would be too late to start out, though it would be best to have everything ready to leave first thing in the morning. "Inuyasha," I started, waiting until he was looking up at me before continuing, "Was there anything in the village you wanted?"

He thought to himself for a moment before finally nodding his head. "My momma had some hair combs. She told me father had given them to her when he found out she was going to give him a son. It was the last thing he gave her, but the village head refused to let me have them," he explained sadly as he looked toward the village longingly, though for the combs or for his lost home I was unsure. I followed his gaze for a moment before sighing softly.

"Really? Well how about this Inuyasha, if I can get the combs for you, will you trust me enough to travel with me?" I questioned as I began running my fingers through his hair again, having had stopped when he turned around to me. He stared at me for a few moments in silence, seemingly trying to judge if I was being truthful about getting them for him, before finally deciding that, at the very least, I believed my words even if he still seemed a bit dubious.

"I guess, but he won't give them to you. He refused to give me anything of momma's after she died, said her belongings were too valuable to end up in the hands of an abomination," he told me, shaking his head sadly. I fought the urge to rip of the man's head and gave him a reassuring smile before I helped us both to stand, turning toward the village. Taking his smaller hand in mine, I walked toward the huts in the distance as everyone began coming out after finishing their dinners.

"I may say somethings that sound mean, Inuyasha, but I do not mean them, alright?" I promised him as I glanced down, seeing him nod in response. "Which hut are they in?" I questioned, gesturing toward the huts around us. Inuyasha pointed to the largest one, in the center of the village, and with a nod, I steeled myself as I began heading toward it. When we reached the bottom of the steps leading up to its door, a large, burly man came out and stopped in front of me.

A sour look marred his face when he noticed Inuyasha's presence. "Are you the village head?" I inquired, even though I already knew the answer judging by the way Inuyasha squeezed my fingers at his arrival, as I glanced up so I would be able to look the tall man in the eyes. He gave me the slightest of nods before turning to scowl at Inuyasha, who moved to hide behind me. "Good evening sir," I greeted with a respectful bow before gesturing toward the hut behind him. "Might I have a word with you?"

"Of course, miko-sama, the half-breed, however, is not welcome in my home," he told me with a sneer directed at Inuyasha. I ran my thumb across the back of his hand to help reassure him and to keep myself calm, fighting against the urge to scream at the man before me. This man was supposed to be the leader of this village and by his own actions, he was teaching them to treat children like trash simply because they had demon blood.

"Understandable sir, however, if I leave him out here he might scare the other villagers. This will only take a moment and surely you would not deny the request of a priestess, especially when she simply has the well being of your village in mind," I replied as politely as I could manage, giving the undeserving man another bow, hoping to hide the scowl that marred my own face. He seemed to think about it for a moment before he gave me a slight nod, turning to head back into his hut.

As I followed after him, I glanced down to give Inuyasha a reassuring smile before the door was closed, rather forcefully, behind us, causing both Inuyasha and I to jump slightly. Turning my attention back to our 'host', I watched as he took his seat at the head of his low table, not bothering to put forth the effort to extend the invitation to me as well. I decided to ignore his rudeness and lack of hospitality and jumped right into the conversation.

"It has been brought to my attention that you currently hold in your possession a set of hair combs that belonged to this half-breed's mother," I told him as I gestured at Inuyasha, who remained pressed tightly against my side, his claws slightly biting into my hand when I referred to him as a half-breed. Hoping he would remember my earlier promise, and as I could do little more at that moment than squeeze his hand to reassure him, I turned my attention back to the host.

He sneered once again at Inuyasha before he turned back to me. "Yes I have my late aunt's combs, as I have the right to. As the eldest male relative and village head, everything she owned was left to me. You don't expect it to have been left to the half-breed do you? Half-breed's hold no claim over possessions or property in a human village, that is why even my aunt's hut was left to me even though he had been living in it," he told me as he sent a glare at Inuyasha.

After a moment I realized just what 'everything' pertained to, apparently Inuyasha had also been left to him, though a lot of good that had done my future friend. "Please forgive me, kind sir, I did not mean to imply that you had kept something you had no right to. It is just that there is a problem with the combs. Were you aware, sir, from where your aunt received the combs?" I questioned, watching as he shook his head, his expression clearly stating he did not see the importance of it.

"It would seem, sir, that Inu no Taisho was the one that gifted them to her and, as I am sure you remain unaware, the combs are made from demon bones. Unfortunately, their craftsmanship was poorly done, as they were not properly cleansed. I can feel the negative energy radiating off of them from here. This, of course, causes a major problem for your wonderful village," I told him, summoning my best 'it is the end of the world' voice.

"How so?" he questioned, clearly unable to connect the dots in his mind, but at the same time worried about the safety of his village or, at the very least, his own. It was the oldest trick in the book, or at least it would be in about two hundred years, but I figured if it worked for Miroku, why not for me as well? I put on my most worried, and slightly afraid, expression before staring him in the eyes and continuing on with my blatant lie.

"You see, sir, the negative energy from the combs is calling demons toward your village. It is, in fact, what brought me here as I have already fought three demons just on the outskirts of town and found myself wondering what was drawing them here. After having spoken to the half-breed, I realized that the combs were in fact the cause. Truthfully, I am surprised you have not already had demons attacking your village."

"Well we did have a couple of attacks this season, ruined half of our crops. Destroyed two huts as well, that we are still rebuilding. Thankfully everyone got away unharmed. We just figured that it was the half-breed that was drawing the demons to us," he spat as he glared at Inuyasha, causing the small boy to hide further behind me, his slight shaking only noticeable by me as I felt it through the hand I held in my own.

"Oh I am sure that it did not help to have him around, but I must warn you, sir. The longer you keep those combs around the more the demons are going to be attracted to it. Next time, it may not just be a couple of huts or this year's harvest that get in their way," I told him, letting more worry, for the village, than I truly felt seep into my voice. He stopped glaring at Inuyasha finally, as it was no longer effective since Inuyasha was completely hidden behind me, and turned toward me.

"Of course, you are correct, miko-sama. I shall have them destroyed at once," he assured me as he jumped to his feet and I could feel Inuyasha tense behind me. I sent him another reassuring smile over my shoulder, not entirely sure he could see it from his position, as I began to rub my thumb across the back of his hand again to calm him. I had not put him through all of this just to let him watch as his mother's possessions were destroyed.

"Excuse me, kind sir," I called out to get his attention and as he turned back to me, I transformed my expression into one of worry and apprehension, hoping he would not see through my bluffs before everything was said and done. "Just destroying them will not work. You see, you need to remove the negative energy first or it will remain behind even after they have been destroyed, leaving your village tainted by the evil, demon aura.

"Allow me to take them with me as I can remove the negative energy elsewhere myself before destroying them. I would offer to do it here, but I am afraid it would take a least a week to complete and that would mean another week for demons to be drawn to your village. For the safety of yourself and the villagers, I beg you allow me to remove them at once. We must hurry as I can already feel other demons heading this way.

"To make up for any unease that this ordeal has caused you, I shall even take the half-breed with me, as you and I both understand that they have no place within a human village. His presence here would only bring more demons to your door and next time, you may not be so lucky to have a priestess passing by to end their abominable existence," I warned him, doing my best not to spit out the words that caused me to feel dirty just by saying them.

"Of course, I shall be right back, miko-sama," he assured me hurriedly as he rushed from the room and after a moment, I could hear him rummaging through his stuff in another room. Feeling Inuyasha's anger filled aura, I glanced down to find him glaring at me with a look of betrayal marring his face. Not wanting to give him the chance to have second thoughts about trusting me, I quickly smiled at him as brightly as I could.

I leaned down to whisper near one of his fuzzy ears, assuring him, "I do not mean any of it, Inuyasha. People are more likely to do what you want if they feel they are in danger or that you share their views. I am merely saying these things since they will work to our advantage. Do not believe for a moment that I am like him or that I believe any of this trash to be true, demons and half-demons are not the abominable ones, people like him are."

"Here are the combs, miko-sama. There was also a necklace that I do not know its origins and fear it might have been from that demon as well," he told me, spitting the word demon, as he walked back into the room. Thankful he had not overheard my conversation with Inuyasha, I watched as he held them out for me to inspect. Feeling Inuyasha squeeze my hand tighter at the sight of the necklace, I knew instantly what my answer would be.

"Oh yes, kind sir, this has negative energy as well, though it is faint so it has not drawn any attention to itself yet. You must be very wise indeed if you were able to realize its significance with such a weak energy coming from it. Do you wish for me to destroy it as well?" I inquired as I glanced back up at him, having to fight the urge to laugh at his expense when he nodded his head vigorously. "Very well, I shall take care of it as well.

"I must take my leave now, as I can already feel demons coming too close to your lovely village for my liking. I shall dispatch of them quickly," I told him as I turned and started for the door, after he had handed me the combs and necklace. I could hear him hurry to the door to open it for me and bowed to him as I made my way across the threshold. Inuyasha carefully stayed to the other side of me, keeping himself out of the man's direct line of sight.

"Of course, of course miko-sama. Many thanks to you for ridding my village of these monstrosities," he obliged me with a sneer aimed at Inuyasha, obviously referring to him as well as the jewelry, before he began bowing to me repeatedly. After I had made my way back down the stairs, I turned back to give him one last respectful bow before heading out of the village. Once we were back at our small camp, I decided it would be best to move a little ways away from the village.

I figured it would be best to make them believe I was off dealing with the 'demons' that were heading their way in case any of the villagers came looking for me. "So will you be joining me, Inuyasha?" I questioned after I had thrown my bag over my shoulder and walked far enough away to be safe to set up another camp. I handed him his mother's belongings, watching as he glanced back longingly toward the village before turning back and giving me a slight nod.

"Good, we will make camp here tonight and start out first thing in the morning. You should get some sleep while I take first watch," I suggested with a smile as I laid my sleeping bag out and sat down on it. I reached my arms out to him, pulling him into my lap and covering him up. As I ran my fingers through his hair, I hummed softly to him and could feel his body begin to relax. Within minutes he was sound asleep and I wondered how long it had been since he had a decent night's sleep.

I knew in the future he barely slept outside of a village, though it was more like he rested his eyes than actually sleeping, and something told me it was the same when he was young. Not for the first time, I felt my heart ache for him and what he had to suffer. At least in the future, I could pretend that his hatred toward the world stemmed from when he was older, but now I could no longer hide from the truth. Even when he was so young, the world was already against him.

***

About an hour before dawn would be there to greet us, I carefully got out of my sleeping bag without waking Inuyasha and set about making breakfast. I had let Inuyasha sleep the whole night through and was extremely tried, though I doubted it was anywhere near as much as my future friend was and had decided it would be better for him to get the rest he needed. Especially since I had no idea when the last time he slept was.

Soon breakfast, consisting of ramen of course, was finished and Inuyasha awoke, no doubt due to the aroma of cooking food. "Good morning, Inuyasha, here you go," I told him with a smile as I handed him his bowl and began eating my own. He seemed confused for a moment, even as he took the bowl, and I hid my smile, at how cute he looked first thing in the morning, behind my bowl as I shoved some noddles in my mouth to stop myself from giggling.

"Why didn't you wake me? I thought you wanted me to guard last night too," he questioned around mouthfuls of ramen and I briefly wondered if I would be able to fix his horrible eating habits as he held out his bowl for more. I watched as the second bowl disappeared as quickly as the first and he was asking for thirds. As I wondered if the ramen would even last long enough for us to reach the well, so I could go back for more, I refilled his bowl with the remaining food.

"You looked like you needed the sleep more than I did. I will give you first watch tonight though," I assured him with a smile as I began packing up camp, since we were both finished eating. It was not long before everything was back in my bag, which I quickly threw over my shoulder and began heading away from the camp with Inuyasha at my side. As I got my barrings, I headed in the direction I knew the well to be in.

"So where are we going anyways? What are we going to do?" he questioned after a few minutes of silence had settled over us. I realized then that I had not really thought much passed getting us near the well so return trips would be easier. Since I had arrived in this time, I had only thought about finding Inuyasha and getting him away from the village. As I glanced around, I remembered how close to winter it was and what we needed to take care of first came to mind.

"We are going to find a place to build a hut for the winter or perhaps a cave to stay in, if we can not find a clearing suitable. We will have to gather everything we need to hold us over through the winter and once we are done with that, we can begin training," I told him as I glanced down at him with a smile as I began to imagine the area near the well, wondering where there was a good place to set up that would not bring us too close to Kaede's village.

"What do we need for the winter? And what'cha mean training? Training for what?" he questioned as he threw me a look that clearly expressed his confusion. I could not help but smile at his expression until I realized why he was so confused. There was no one there to teach him what it meant to be a half-demon, his father had died the day he was born, it was doubtful his mother understood any of it herself and there was no way Sesshoumaru would ever explain things to him.

This, of course, made me wonder how he eventually learned his demonic attacks, but filed it away to worry about later. "Well for starters, we will need the materials to build the hut, hids for bedding and clothing, meat to dry for when hunting is hard. And I mean training our skills, like I will be working to improve my archery and other priestess abilities and you will work on your demonic attacks, so you will be able to defend yourself in case you are ever attacked."

"I'm not allowed to use my powers, momma said only bad people hurt others. And why would I need to defend myself if you are going to be there? Or do you mean to say that you will leave me too?" he inquired, his last question almost too quiet for me to hear it. As I saw his heartbroken expression, though I am unsure whether it was at the thought of me leaving him or because his mother did, I dropped to my knees before him, turning him to face me.

"I am not going anywhere and even if I did, I would return quickly. I am not saying that I will not protect you, simply that in case there is a time where I can not, you will not be left defenseless. I do not want you to make the same mistake I did. I traveled around the land with my friends for three years, fighting against the evils of this world, but I never took the time to learn how to use any of my powers other than sacred arrows.

"At the beginning of my last battle, I lost my bow and could do nothing more than stand there, watching as my friends were killed. I do not know if things would have turned out any different if I was better trained, but at least I would feel like I had done everything I could rather than that I let them all down. I depended on them to protect me and now they are gone. I will not let you suffer the same fate as I did. Your mother was not wrong though, only bad people hurt others, but that is not the same thing as protecting yourself.

"Your mother taught you about your human half, but you are also half demon, Inuyasha, and have the right to understand that part of yourself as well. I may not know everything there is to know about demons, but I can at least teach you what I do. I want you to truly understand just how blessed you are to be a half-demon," I told him laughing as he responded with a shocked expression before turning somber when he shook his head sadly.

"It's not a blessing, it's a curse. I'm neither human nor demon and belong to neither world. Humans hate me for my demonic blood, demons hate me for my humanity. I exist on the edge of the two worlds, welcomed by neither side, despised by both. I have no family, even though both my parents have relatives who are still alive, none of them want me as they believe my creation is an abomination," Inuyasha told me, forcing his way out of my hold.

"Idiots, the lot of them," I told him with a shrug, watching as he turned back to me confused. "Do you have any idea what I would give to be a half-demon? I could extend my life without losing my humanity, I could survive injuries that could easily kill a human and I would have more power to protect my friends. They do not understand Inuyasha, but you are not on the edge of the two worlds, you are a combination of them.

"The beauty and intelligence of a demon, the heart and soul of a human. Strength and power mixed with the ability to overcome anything and unconditional love. A half-demon is not cursed, but blessed, far more than any other could ever truly understand. Never think of yourself as worthless or unwanted because even if they do not understand what a miracle it is to know you, I do. And I will always want you in my life, there is nothing you could do to change that."

Seeing he was not going to argue further, at least for now, I stood and took his hand as I began walking again. The silence quickly settled over us causing the hours to pass by slowly as we treked across the land, finding ourselves within spitting distance of the well a few hours after dinner. I decided it was too late to do anything that night and instead had set up the sleeping bag before crawling into it.

Inuyasha sat down next to me, covering himself with the sleeping bag as he kept an eye on the clearing around us. I made sure my bow was within reach before instructing him to wake me in a few hours and closed my eyes for some much needed rest. The sound of Inuyasha's breathing and strong heart beat lulled me off to sleep and that night, I dreamed of a time where I stood before his motionless form, staring at an arrow that had pierced his chest.

_***_

The days we spent building our small, one room hut went by quickly, the two of us too busy to notice the hours passing us by. We had finished just as the temperature began to drop, marking the coming of winter. Knowing we were only a week or two away from the first snow, I had stocked up on dried meat, but I knew that I would have to travel through the well to restock on other supplies especially since we were completely out of ramen.

As I began to wonder if the well would not only let me back to modern day, considering I now further back in time than it had ever taken me, but also return me to this time when I was ready to come back, I noticed Inuyasha was beginning to get antsy off in one corner of the hut. I set aside my worries, deciding the wish would have added this into its calculations, and made my way over to him to inquire about what was wrong.

"Inuyasha?" I called out softly to him as I reached my hand out to push his bangs back out of his eyes, only to have him shrink away from me. Confused by his actions, I followed his line of sight, noticing he was staring out the window at the darkening sky. I did a quick calculation in my head and smiled when I discovered the problem, "It is the night of the new moon, is it not?" I inquired, watching as he turned toward me in shock.

"I already know about your human night, Inuyasha. I will insure you are protected tonight, you need not worry about it," I assured him as I once again reached my arms around to him and this time pulled him unresisting into my lap. "In fact, tonight is perfect timing. I need to go home for just a few hours," I added quickly when he tense in my arms at the thought of me leaving, "and while you are human, I can drop you off in the nearby village.

"They will not know that you are actually a half-demon, so you will not have to worry about them being mean or attacking you. It is impossible to take you with me or I would, but I need to go back since, at the very least, we are out of ramen. I have traded some of the meat I caught with the village head and he is a very friendly man. I have already told him that my little brother was living with me so he will not be surprised when I drop you off there.

"Just do not mention anything about being a half-demon and you will have no problems, you have my word," I assured him as I softly ran my fingers through his long hair. Seeing he had relax, I was about to release him until I felt him tense in my arms once again. Confused, I glanced down to see his transformation begin and held him tighter until it was complete. "See now you really look like my little brother," I joked holding up a lock of his black hair against my own.

Once he had given me his nod of approval, I helped us both to our feet, grabbed what he would need to keep him busy for the next few hours and began leading him toward the village. I handed him off to the village head, once again assuring him I would be back quickly and made my way to the all too familiar well. I said a quick prayer that the well would have no problems transporting back and forth to the correct time periods, as I held on tightly to my backpack and jumped into its dark depths.

Instantly I felt its magic flow over me and soon found myself at the bottom of the modern day well, knowing I was in the right time by the roof above me. Quickly I had made my up the ladder and out into the yard and, seeing nothing out of place from what I was used to, I headed toward the house. Soon as I had opened the door, the smell of my mother's delicious home cooking was upon me and I could not help but smile.

It had been far too long since I had the chance to eat a meal with my family, as even on my last few trips through the well, the older Inuyasha had insisted I come right back. I made my way into the kitchen to find my mother setting the table as Souta and Grandpa sat in anticipation. Noticing my presence, she turned to me with a smile. "Kagome, you're home. Just in time too, dinner's ready," she said, stating the obvious as she grabbed another plate for me.

"Guess I got lucky today. Unfortunately I can not stay for too long, I will explain things over dinner," I assured her when she gave a crestfallen look at the thought of me leaving soon after finally coming back. Soon as we were all sitting at the table, our full plates in front of us, I jumped right in, "Long story short, we completed the jewel and I made a wish on the jewel to give Inuyasha a positive influence in his life when he was going up, hoping it would stop everything bad that happened.

"Apparently the fates decided I would be the influence as the wish sent me back further into the past, to when Inuyasha was a little kid. I would guess roughly 20 years-old, though he looks about three or four in human terms. Tonight is his human night so I can not stay away too long even though I have a villager watching him right now, he does not know that Inuyasha is really a half-demon. Once I know the well is going to continue to work correctly, I should be able to come home more often.

"But right now, even when it is not his human night, he does not know how to defend himself as there was no one around to teach him how to be a demon. And I do not want to leave him alone when he can not protect himself if something was to happen. I hope we have stocked up on ramen since he is going through it as quickly as his older self, if not faster. But I can not really blame him, it had been a month since his mother died before I found him and I doubt the villagers fed him at all."

"Yes, Kagome dear, I just went shopping this morning and bought plenty. I will make sure I keep extra on hand at all times in case you come back. But if you are further back in time, doesn't that mean that none of your friends are there? You are taking care of such a young Inuyasha all by yourself? Are his ears as cute as they are on his older form?" my mother questioned, causing me to laugh, our shared obsession with his ears definitely proved we were mother and daughter.

"Thanks, I appreciate that. Yes it is just me taking care of Inuyasha, even if I was to seek out the demons I knew, that would be alive already, they would not know who I was. It is not too hard taking care of him by myself, though he may not be happy-go-lucky, his attitude is no where near as bad as what I am used to. And his puppy ears are even cuter at this age," I told her with a laugh as I finished off my plate and stood to rinse it off in the sink.

"Do we still have any of Souta's old winter coats? I have never been sure if Inuyasha does not get cold or just pretends he is fine and want to have a coat for him for winter," I said as I turned back to my mother before moving to the pantry to begin refilling my bag. She nodded her head, before heading out of the room, no doubt to get the coat. Just as I finished refilling the bag with ramen, a large bag of rice and lollipops, she returned with two coats.

"Figured you would want yours as well," she explained with a smile as I threw my bag over my shoulders and took the offered coats. "Oh wait, I have something for you," she said as she headed back out of the room before returning a few moments later with a coloring book and box of crayons. "They were originally for Shippo, but I am sure they will be perfect for little Inuyasha," my mother insisted, her mind wandering off, no doubt to thoughts about his ears.

"Thanks mom, I should be going though, I do not want to leave him in the village any longer than necessary. There is no telling what kind of trouble he will get himself into," I said with a smile as I added the coloring book to my bag and threw it back over my shoulder. "I will visit again as soon as I can," I assured them as I gave each one of them a hug before turning and making my way back toward the well. Stepping into the well house, I jumped over the edge without looking back.

***

At the same time Kagome had been traveling through the well into modern day Japan, an unexpected guest arrived on the outskirts of Inuyasha's old village. He stood silently, watching as the villagers scurried about below, calling their children in for the night, grouping up amongst themselves to speak about whatever it was human men spoke about. Ignoring those that he believed beneath him, he scanned the area as he searched out one specific form.

Not finding it, he tilted his head up slightly toward the dark sky, taking a few quick sniffs of the air around him. Realizing the scent he was seeking was a few weeks old, confused as he knew the half-breed had no where else he could go, he began searching the area for any signs of where he might have gone. Spotting two sets of tracks, preserved by the hardening ground due to the cold, he inspected them both carefully.

"Inuyasha's," he decided quickly about the first, smaller set of tracks before turning his attention to the second. "Female, not the half-breed's mother," he insisted, knowing the tracks were too fresh to have been made by a woman who died well over a month ago. "Human by the scent, reeks of holy powers. Unafraid," he decided, as the two sets of tracks were side by side, close enough the two could have been touching as they walked.

"Why would a priestess lead Inuyasha away from this village in such an informal manner? She if sought his death, she would have simply killed him here. So woman," he began as though she was standing there before him, "where have you taken my little brother?" Knowing no answer would be forthcoming, Sesshoumaru did not bother to wait for one as he began following the trail left by Inuyasha and the priestess.

Summoning a cloud of his demonic powers beneath his feet, deciding he did not wish for his journey to take any longer than necessary, he quickly sped his way across the landscape. Almost an hour later, he reached his destination, finding himself just outside of a small clearing housing a single hut. As he watched from the treelines, Inuyasha and the priestess appeared, her laughing as he spoke animately about something Sesshoumaru could not hear. As he watched in silence, he saw a smile light his half-brother's face for the first time. Inuyasha's dark hair and lack of demonic aura, did not go unnoticed by him.


	3. Loyalty of one, Jealousy of another

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: Loyalty of one, Jealousy of another.

Author: Hairann

Prompt: Spectrum Challenge - Yellow

Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort

AU/CU: CU/Divergence

Rating: T for now

Warnings: Set in past tense, few curse words.

Word Count: 5316

Summary: The coveting of the fang.

Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 3 of Rewriting History.

* * *

I can still remember waking that night in a cold sweat, the beads of perspiration rolling across my skin as the overwhelming presence filled our small hut and drowned out everything else. I felt as though I were freezing because of the constant shivers running down my spine as I gulped and reached for the bow I kept close to our bed. I knew I should not have gone to sleep that night, I had felt as though we were being watched all day but as Inuyasha did not seem to sense anything out of the ordinary, I had brushed it off as paranoia.

But the dark figure, silhouetted by the moonlight seeping in through the cracks in the window shutters, quickly showed me the error of my thinking. I felt like prey trapped by a predator as my lip quivered and my hand shook the bow even as I jumped to my feet and tried to notch an arrow. It slipped through my fingers, falling harmlessly to the floor, the sound echoing around the otherwise silent room. Ignoring it, I grabbed another from my quiver, this time I was able to ready it correctly and aimed it at the silent demon.

Behind me, I could hear Inuyasha waking and growling at the dark figure. I chanced a quick peek over my shoulder, finding him cowering in the corner even as he glared at him, before I turned my gaze quickly back to the intruder. More than anything, his silence unnerved me and with a shaky voice, I broke the hush that had settled over us. "Identify yourself," I demanded, hating the fact that my voice cracked making me sound like a frightened little girl.

Just as I ignored the fact that it was exactly what I was, he ignored me and as I went to speak again, I noticed that even in the dark I could see his eyes, and they were in fact trained on Inuyasha rather than myself. It was at that moment that I saw the color of his glaring eyes; golden. "Sesshoumaru," I whispered as my breathing became labored by my fear and it took every ounce of strength I had to keep me standing.

I cursed my luck at having it be him that showed up in the middle of the night. He was not the Sesshoumaru I knew, as little as that maybe. This was him years, centuries even, before he changed into the demon that fought off Naraku to buy me time to make my wish. This was before he had ever met Rin, before he stopped coveting Inuyasha's sword. This was mere decades after he had lost his father, something he no doubt blamed on the tiny half-demon behind me.

Hearing his name, he had turned his gaze on me, his eyes darkening even as the edges tinged red. "Human," he spat at me as though that single word were an insult, though I supposed to him it was. "Why?" he questioned and I found myself wishing, not for the first time, that he spoke in longer sentences. Why did I know who he was? Why I had Inuyasha with me? Why I took him from his village? I needed more than just why.

"Why what, Sesshoumaru? I can not answer your question if you are not more specific," I informed him doing my best to stop my voice from shaking and giving him anymore satisfaction in knowing I was terrified. It was already bad enough that he could no doubt smell the fear rolling off of me in spades, hear my fingers shaking against my bow and arrow, he did not need to hear it in my voice as well.

"It is sama to you," he spat darkly at me, his cold, unfeeling voice sending another shiver down my spine. "Why does such a pathetic human know this Sesshoumaru's name? Why did you the half-breed from the village? Why would a priestess lie in the same bed as a half-breed? Why?" he demanded again, apparently having been referring to all of the possible questions I had come up with before.

"Very well, Sesshoumaru-sama," I agreed, deciding a little sucking up was worth it if it helped get Inuyasha and I through this encounter alive and in one piece. "Even a pathetic human such as myself would have heard of the Lord of the West. One would have to have been living beneath a rock not to. Inuyasha was neither safe nor wanted in his village, he is however wanted with me. I removed him both for his safety and his happiness.

"Why would I not lie in the same bed as a half-demon? He is but a child and it is comforting to have someone laying beside you. I can assure you that I am not like any other priestess you may have crossed paths with before, I do not see demons as filthy, evil monsters. And I will not allow you to hurt him again," I insisted, not really caring if he had in fact hurt him already by this time. "Now my turn; why are you here? What do you want, Sesshoumaru-sama? Though one would think that someone in your position would have better manners than to enter someone else's home in the middle of the night, uninvited."

His response was not immediate, instead his glare grew darker as he continued to stare at me in silence. The unnerving atmosphere had started to get to Inuyasha, I could hear his soft whines and knew without even looking that he was pressing himself closer to the wall, trying to distance himself from the threat. Without thinking, I turned to him fully to try and reassure him of his safety, and made the worst possible mistake.

I knew an instant later that I was in trouble when I heard Sesshoumaru growl and I turned back toward him, already understanding the problem, but before I could say or do anything, he had me pinned to the wall with his clawed hand around my neck. As my bow and arrow dropped harmlessly to the floor, I began scratching at his fingers to try to get him to release me to no avail. Before I knew what he was doing, Inuyasha had sunk his sharp fangs into Sesshoumaru's outstretched arm.

The older demon simply growled before tossing him across the room, his head hitting the far wall and was knocked unconscious. "Do not hurt him," I whispered through his grip as I struggled to take in much needed air. "He is but a child. I meant no disrespect by turning my back, I was merely concerned with him." Though I am not entirely sure he believed me, he did release me, letting me drop unceremoniously to the floor.

"Curiosity," he finally said as he walked away, heading back out into the night without another word, leaving me to stare at his back in confusion. After a few moments, I had realized he was answering my earlier questions, the reason why he was here. I shook myself out of a daze and crawled across the floor until I reached where Inuyasha was lying, still unconscious. Seeing no indication he was injured, I lifted him into my arms and carried him back to our bed.

* * *

The next morning I watched over Inuyasha while he practiced his 'Iron Reaver Soul Stealer' attack, though it was more like he stood there pantomiming it as he had yet to actually get the attack to work. As best as I tried to explain it to him, I could only tell him what he was supposed to do, not how. Never having been a demon myself, I could not begin to understand how they pulled out their power, hell I was not even sure how I gathered my own power for an attack.

As I continued to watch him, I could feel the eyes on my back once again, this time I knew better than to just brush it off as paranoia. I glanced around until I found patches of white standing out in contrast to the trees and, making sure Inuyasha remained unaware of his presence, I began making my way over toward him. I knew with certainty that he was not here for a fight, there would be no reason for him to remain hidden if he was.

He would simply attack and so, as strange as it may sound, I some how knew that he was merely there to talk, though I could not fathom what the topic would be. I closed the distance between us, finding him standing there silently with his usual stoic expression, one that I had become accustomed to in the future. "Can I help you, Sesshoumaru-sama?" I inquired once I had stopped in front of him, gazing up into his golden eyes as he towered above me.

"Why again?" he questioned after a few long moments of silence had dragged on, thoroughly confusing me. Instead of answering him, as I had no way to know what he was referring to in order to come up with an appropriate response, I simply stared at him as I waited for him to elaborate. Eventually he did, using as few words as possible. "Why hurt the half-breed 'again'? He had never met this Sesshoumaru before last night."

I continued to stare at him in silence for a while trying to come up with an excuse to cover my slip. It was not as though I could tell him I was referring to something that had yet to happen in this time, especially when I hoped to prevent it from ever happening. I thought about the point in time I was currently in and came up with the best answer I could off hand. "Just because he had never met you face to face, does not mean you were incapable of hurting him, Sesshoumaru-sama.

"His mother has been dead over a month and last night was the first time he met you? Letting him starve all that time because the villagers did not give a damn about him, was hurting him. Refusing to play the role of older brother, is hurting him. Treating him like garbage because he has human blood, is hurting him. You are the closest family he has and he has never met you in, what, 20 years? So yes, I will not allow you to hurt him 'again', Sesshoumaru-sama."

"You believe you are capable of stopping this Sesshoumaru?" he questioned after a moment in a tone that obviously said he did not agree. Instead of answering him, I merely shrugged my shoulders, though judging by the glare he pinned me with he did not approve of my response. Sighing, I turned my head to glance at Inuyasha, to make sure he continued to practice, unaware of my absence or Sesshoumaru's appearance.

"You never know until you try, Sesshoumaru-sama. Do I think that I could defeat you in an all out battle? Of course not, contrary to your opinion, I am not an idiot. I do not expect myself to be able to do all that much damage to you, but I also know that I am not worth the time to kill. I have not offended you, challenged you, or sought you out, Sesshoumaru-sama. And I am unarmed at the moment. I some how doubt that you would sink so low as to attack me right now.

"But I will protect Inuyasha even if it costs me my life, even if it means having to face off against you. I know you want nothing to do with Inuyasha and you need not worry about him, I will take care of him. He has not mentioned you since last night and as I doubt he knows who you really are, it will not cause him pain if you never appear before him again. If it is your desire to have nothing to do with him, then go. Let him have some small amount of peace.

"I know you probably blame him for the death of your father, but he is no more accountable for what happened that night than you are. Your father chose his own path, just as you must chose yours. And Inuyasha his. If you do not wish to be his big brother, treat him like the family he is, then both of you are better off never seeing each other again. Do not waste your time taunting him for being a half-demon, simply walk away and never think of him again."

"You know nothing of this Sesshoumaru, human," he spat at me before he turned and walked away, not bothering to spare me another glance. I watched until he was out of sight, confused by his parting words, before I turned and headed back to where Inuyasha remained. As I saw him coming towards me with a large grin adorning his face, I put all thoughts of the older demon out of my mind and returned the smile.

"I did it, momma," he cheered, apparently not realizing what he had called me. I bit my lip to keep from laughing at his excitement as he jumped up and down, gesturing to his claws. Putting aside his blooper, I gestured for him to show me his attack, stepping back as he did so. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" he yelled in his adorable voice, sending out five tiny streks of yellow energy across the clearing. Because of the distance, they evaporated before they reached the target on the far side.

"Very good, Inuyasha. With a bit more practice, you should have no problem putting more power behind the attack. But let us take a break for now, I believe it is time for lunch," I told him with a smile as I began leading him back toward our hut and knowing what he would soon be asking for, I continued, "And yes, we can have ramen today." I could hear him clap his hands as he skipped along behind me, the fear he had felt the night before apparently forgotten about in his excitement.

* * *

I had awoken a few days later with a strange fear gnawing at my gut and shot up in bed, clutching my chest as my heart pounded in my ears. Panic set in as I noticed Inuyasha was no longer laying beside and a quick scan of our hut confirmed my fear. He was no longer there. He had left the hut without me, without telling me and I knew he was in danger, I knew it had to be what my instincts were screaming at me.

I threw off the covers and rushed from the hut, not bothering to waste time putting on my shoes or jacket, ignoring the fact that the snow had begun falling the day before, blanketing our clearing in a few feet. I prayed that I was wrong, that he was simply right outside of our hut, practicing his attack, but I knew better. Some how I knew my worst fears were waiting for me right outside our door. The moment I had flung the door open, I learned my worst nightmare was not even close to the truth.

Sesshoumaru stood there towering over Inuyasha's limp form, which he held in the air by the front of his fire rat shirt, his slender, clawed fingers reaching into one of Inuyasha's golden eyes. I screamed as I rushed toward them but before I was able to stop him, he had pulled the black pearl out of his eye. "This Sesshoumaru understands why wish to be so close to the half-breed. You covet what is rightly mine," he spat at me as he dropped Inuyasha unceremoniously to the ground.

"I neither covet it nor is it yours, Sesshoumaru-sama. Why do you think the pearl was placed within him and not given to you?" I demanded only to have him turn his back on me as he activated the pearl and stepped into the portal that opened, leading to Inu no Taisho's tomb. Pushing the nagging question of how he had discovered its location without the help of the Unmother for now, I rushed over to Inuyasha as he sat up and wiped the blood from his eye.

"Inuyasha, that portal leads to your father's tomb and a sword he left for you. The pearl will only work once, you must decide now if you wish to go there as you will not have another chance," I warned him as I held his gaze with my own, kneeling down beside him. He glanced at the portal before turning back to me and nodding his head once. "Alright, let us go," I agreed as I helped him to his feet and led the way into the portal.

Soon as we had passed through the threshold, we were falling from the sky and already knowing what to expect, I did not feel the overwhelming fear I had the first time I made this trip. As one of the large, fleshless demon birds flew beneath us, I landed Inuyasha and myself on its back and flew it down to the gigantic bones below. After I had found a suitable spot, I lept off of its back, taking Inuyasha with me and began leading him into the tomb.

Reaching the inside, I quickly spotted Sesshoumaru repeatedly trying to remove the old, battered looking sword only to have his hand burned on contact. "As I told you before, Sesshoumaru-sama, the fang was not meant for you. It will not allow you to remove it," I insisted causing him to turn to growl at me as he finally noticed our presence. "There is a reason you received the sword of life rather than the one of death, your father wished for you to learn compassion."

"How can you know such much of that which occurred before your birth, human?" he demanded, finally releasing the hilt of Tetsusaiga as he turned toward us fully and glared. Instead of answering him, I stood there silently watching as he stalked toward me and I gulped in fear as I tried to come up with an excuse to explain my knowledge without having to tell him that I was from the future, I doubted he would believe me anyways.

"There are many things that even a pathetic human would know, Sesshoumaru-sama. Why I know is not important, only what I know is. Do you want to know why your father gave that sword to Inuyasha? For protection, it keeps his demon blood under control so he will not go on a rampage. The sword would do you no good, it can only be used when trying to protect humans. A human hater such as yourself, would have no use for it.

"Give up your desire for it now, only Inuyasha can wield it," I told him, not noticing that Inuyasha had left my side and was making his way over to the sword in question. It was not until he had tried and failed to remove it, thankfully without being burned, that I turned my attention back to him. Careful not to turn my back to Sesshoumaru, I walked over to where Inuyasha stood, staring at me in confusion, and knelt beside him.

"There is only one person who can remove the sword, the Arthur of this story if you will," I began, not caring if either of them even knew who I was referring to. "It is to insure the sword is not removed before you understand the consequences of doing so. As I said, it protects you by binding your demon blood as it is too powerful and would overwhelm your human half if left alone, however, if the sword is ever broken, you would be susceptible to transforming into a full demon.

"While that might sound like a good thing to you, it is not a form you could control. It would care nothing for friend, everyone including me would be seen as an enemy. If it is truly what you want, then very well, but know if the sword is removed the price will be a necklace of subjugation. It will insure that I can subdue you if the sword is ever damaged and your demon form comes out. I wish I could give you more time to decide, but it is not possible.

"Once the portal here closes, we will not be able to use it again and I am not sure how long it will remain open. You can either leave the sword here, where it will continue to protect you uninterrupted, or you can take it with you and learn to fight with a sword as well as your claws. The decision is yours," I told him as I gave him a reassuring smile, before rising to my feet and waited for him to decide.

"You actually think the fang will allow you to remove it when even this Sesshoumaru and the half-breed can not?" Sesshoumaru scoffed at me, reminding me that he was still there in the tomb with us. I simply shrugged my shoulders in response as I kept my eyes on Inuyasha, watching as he finally nodded his head, indicating he had made up his mind. I smiled at him before reaching over to grasp the hilt and slowly pulled the sword from its resting place.

Once it was free, I glanced over at Sesshoumaru with a smirk and told him, "I am Arthur and this is my sword in the stone," not caring that I was no doubt thoroughly confusing him. Turning back to Inuyasha, I had handed him the sword, as well as, the scabbard that lay nearby. "Let us return home before the portal closes," I instructed as I began leading him back out the way we had come, not sparing Sesshoumaru another glance.

* * *

I was awoken sometime in the middle of that night with Inuyasha's scabbard pressing into my side. He had refused to let it go when I put him to bed and I did not have the heart to force him. I am sure it made him feel close to his father and after the way he had learned about Sesshoumaru, he needed all of the comfort he could get. Though I knew it was not my fault, as he had learned the truth simply by catching his scent when he was so close to him before I had woken up, I still felt bad.

Thankfully he had been so distracted by his new 'toy' that he seemed to have completely forgotten about the meeting with Sesshoumaru, but I prayed that he never remembered him. I could not imagine what it would be like to meet your brother for the first time only to learn he was after your inheritance. Especially when he was willing to injure you just to get it, when he cared more about the damn sword than his own little brother.

I had decided since it was unlikely I would be getting any sleep that night, that I might as well practice while Inuyasha was not awake. I was always afraid pulling out my powers when he was around, worried I would accidentally burn him when he got too close, which he always managed to do. Setting up a new target, as the last one had been shredded by his claws, I walked back about ten yards before turning back to face it.

One after another the arrows were notched and released until my quiver was empty. I gathered them up and moved away from the target again, this time going for fifteen yards. I quickly repeated my earlier actions, giving myself no time to think about where I was aiming as I usually did not have much time to think during battles anyways, and was just about to shoot the last arrow when I felt eyes upon my back once again.

I spun around on my heels, arrow still notched and aimed it straight at his chest. I was in no mood to deal with him after everything he had done in the week since he had first appeared before us. "Leave, you have already done enough damage, get out of here before you do any more to him. The sword was not meant for you, it will do you no good to possess it," I told him, keeping my bow as steady as I could given the circumstances.

"This Sesshoumaru is neither here for the fang nor a battle. This Sesshoumaru seeks answers," he told me, completely uninterested in the arrow pointing at him or any threat I may have posed to him. He had simply walked away from me, gracefully lowering himself to the ground as though a conversation between us was the most nature thing. I was half tempted to shoot my last arrow near him, just to say that he should not be so sure of his continued safety around me, but decided against it.

He was not currently trying to kill me and I saw no reason to give him an excuse to. "Ask your questions, but know I reserve the right to refuse to answer any I do not wish you to know. I can pretty much guess at least some of them, and there are somethings that are better left unknown. Even by the great Sesshoumaru-sama," I told him as I lowered my bow and walked over to where he was sitting, though I remained standing knowing it would no doubt annoy him.

"How is it you know so much about my father's fang? If you knew you could not use it, why did you covet it?" he demanded and I fought the urge to roll my umber eyes at him. Apparently he did not listen to me the first I told him that I did not covet the sword, though it is really not all that surprising, it would take a cold day in hell for him to actually listen to someone he believes to be beneath him. Though it would have made things much easier if he would do so on occasion.

"For starters, Sesshoumaru-sama, I do not now nor have I ever coveted the sword. I simply wished to insure it did not fall into the hands of those it did not belong to. I will explain why I know so much about the sword and your father, but only on one condition, you are never to repeat what I say to Inuyasha. When and if the time comes for him to learn everything, it will come from me and no one else," I warned him and waited for him to nod his head in agreement before I continued.

"I am from the future, I knew about the sword's location and the truth behind it because I had already witnessed everything that happened in the tomb. I knew I would be the only one to be able to remove it, because it is what happened in the future. But you were not supposed to learn its location for another 200 years, how did you figure out where it was so quickly? I can not believe it is simply because I was with Inuyasha."

"You lied to this Sesshoumaru. It was not what this Sesshoumaru had done, or not done, that you referred to when speaking of hurting him again. It was your own slip that lead this Sesshoumaru to its location, there was nothing else the half-breed could be in possession of that would be worth staying so close to him for. You simply needed to gain his trust," he accused and I knew not whether I should think him an idiot or pity him, he just could not understand the truth.

"You told me before that I knew nothing about you, well I turn your own words back on you. You know nothing of myself or Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru-sama. The sword was not the reason I chose to be so close to him, his friendship was. In the future he is my best friend, we traveled all across Japan together for years, risking our lives for our cause. Countless times he has saved me and now it is my turn to save him.

"Have you by chance heard of something called the Shikon jewel?" I questioned, trying to remember exactly how old it was and if it was already created at this point in time. His brief nod told me it was and I continued, "I possess the jewel and because of my mistake, it was once shattered. Our quest was collecting the shards before certain evil beings could, in hopes of preventing them from using it. It was the wish upon the jewel that brought me to this time, though it cost almost everyone their lives. At the end of the battle, it was only you and I that still stood, Sesshoumaru-sama.

"And I was only alive because our enemy thought me too weak to be much of a threat, though he was correct as far as fighting went. I am willing to tell you this because in the future, you learned the truth about the sword. Once you had discovered it was what was keeping Inuyasha from becoming a mindless demon, you no longer sought to possess it. You even learned to appreciate your own sword, though I do not know the story behind it. We were not exactly what you would call allies."

"Why did this Sesshoumaru's father leave him a pathetic sword rather than putting the seal for the half-breed on that one?" he questioned after he had remained silent for a long while, most likely thinking over my words. And again I learned he had not listened to me, as I had already told him the answer within the tomb, though perhaps he merely wished for a more detailed explanation. Noticing my legs had begun growing tired and I finally took a seat before him before answering.

"Do you remember his parting words, Sesshoumaru-sama?" I questioned and after he nodded that he did, I continued, "He wanted you to understand the wisdom behind having someone to protect, behind compassion and love. I do not doubt that you believe such things to be weak, but you could not be more wrong. The desire to protect those you love fills you with a strength you could never image. It makes the impossible possible, and you will feel as though there is nothing you can not do.

"It is what gives me the courage to stand against you even when I know you could kill me in a heartbeat. It is what keeps me from running scared when someone more powerful is my opponent, allows me to risk my life in order to save my friends. It is also the reason you were never able to kill Inuyasha in the future. It was never just his life on the line but those of his friends, the people he loved, as well and the strength of having us stand behind him, allowed him to live through many battles that should have cost him his life.

"This is why each of you received the sword you did. Neither is more powerful than the other, one takes life and the other gives it. Inuyasha needed to learn to accept and embrace his human half by using a sword that only works when protecting humans. You needed to learn compassion for humans by using a sword that could bring them back from the dead, give them the second chance that your father was giving you, Sesshoumaru-sama."

* * *

AN: I can not remember if she ever really knew Inu no Taisho's parting words to Sesshoumaru in the movie, but for the sake of this story she does. Also for those wondering about Rin, I am almost completely certain that Kagome knowing the story behind how they met and him resurrecting her with the sword, is completely fanon. While she can probably guess that it had something to do with the sword, she does not know about Kouga's wolves or how Rin met Sesshoumaru right after the original trip to the tomb. So at the very least, she does not know that she has altered history.


	4. Growing hanyou and Ambitious training

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: Growing hanyou and Ambitious training

Author: Hairann

Prompt: Spectrum Challenge - Green

Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort

AU/CU: CU/Divergence

Rating: T for now

Warnings: Set in past tense,

Word Count: 4453

Summary: Second winter in the past.

Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 4 of Rewriting History.

* * *

A year had passed since I had been thrown further back in time and winter was upon us again. Since the night we visited the tomb of Inu no Taisho, Sesshoumaru had called on me many times, usually once or twice a month, though he was not seen by Inuyasha during that time. He would wait until he was asleep or busy practicing to make himself known to me and I could not help but wonder about the reasons behind his actions.

I was sure, that by now, I had answered all of his questions, those I was willing to at least, but he continued to show up randomly, always making sure Inuyasha did not sense his presence. Had he been anyone else, I would have assumed he was there to see me, but I knew that was about as likely as him asking Inuyasha for a hug. But if he really was there to see his brother, why did he never do so? Why hide behind an excuse of curiosity?

His continued actions did little more than to further confuse me and I doubted I would receive the answers to my questions any time soon. It was not as if Sesshoumaru was known to be chatty and I worried that asking to many questions might annoy him to the point of attacking me or Inuyasha. So far we had made it through his visits unscathed and I fully intended on doing everything I could to make sure it remained that way.

Though it seemed to me at the time that the Fates were not finished screwing with me and my life as his next visit came at what was possibly the worse time for it. I had caught a cold while helping out some of the ill villagers, at what would one day be Kaede's village, and was sick in bed when he showed up at our door. Inuyasha's, who had been playing quietly off in one corner of the room, growling was what alerted me to his presence.

Doing my best to sit up on the futon, I glanced over at the dark figure standing in my doorway, wondering why today, of all days, he decided to show himself in front of Inuyasha. "Good evening, Sesshoumaru-sama, I was not expecting you back for some time as your last visit was rather recent so you will have to forgive the mess," I greeted as I gestured toward the scattered toys and left over dishes from that night's dinner.

He regarded me in silence for a few moments before glancing over at the still growling half-demon, raising a single, elegant eyebrow in question. "It is alright, Inuyasha, he will not...," I began to reassure him only to be interrupted by a coughing fit. As my whole body shook from the force, I could hear his growls become soft whines as he rushed to my side, his clear, golden eyes echoing his concern. I smiled softly to him as I patted his head in reassurance.

"You are ill," Sesshoumaru pointed out after a moment of silence had settled over the three of us and I fought the urge to comment on him being 'captain obvious'. Before I had the chance to answer him, another coughing fit reared its ugly head and in response, Inuyasha's whine began more urgent and fearful. "I assume this is why you did not sense my presence," he continued, apparently having decided to completely ignore his worried half-brother.

"I am alright, Inuyasha, it is just a cold. I will be good as new in only a few days as long as I get some rest. How about you go back to playing with your toys, there is no reason for you to have to be bored by this conversation," I told him, deciding if Sesshoumaru could completely ignore Inuyasha, than I could ignore him, at least for a little while. Inuyasha seemed hesitant for a few moments, as he glanced between me and the older demon before finally giving me the slightest of nods and made his way back toward his corner of the hut.

"Yes, unfortunately, colds tend to mess up my senses and I was not aware you were outside. I hope you did not have to wait long, but as you never seem to want to tell me when your next visit will be, it is not like I knew to expect you. I am afraid you pick a bad night, however, as I doubt I will be conscious for much longer. The cold has sapped all of my energy and I am simply still awake right now due to sheer willpower.

"If you are not in a hurry, you are welcome to stay until I awake, which will no doubt be sometime in the morning tomorrow, and I can answer whatever questions you have then. I assume that is the reason you are here as it is always your reason for stopping by. I doubt I have anything that would suit your tastes for food here, however, I do have some decent tea, Inuyasha can show you where it is," I informed him, not really caring that I seemed to be babbling, even as my head fell limp against the futon and I lost consciousness.

* * *

"Kagome?" Inuyasha questioned softly when he heard her fall into silence. Seeing her pale face haloed by her dark hair, and not receiving an answer, he made his way over to her and saw how sickly she looked in the dim fire light. Fearing the worst, Inuyasha's eyes grew wide as he crawled onto the futon and began shaking her unresponsive body. "Momma wake up! You have to wake up!" he insisted frightened as he continued to shake her to no avail.

"Calm yourself, half-breed, she is merely unconscious," Sesshoumaru informed him in a voice void of emotions as he made his way over to the fire to sit beside it until she woke. And when she did, he was going to explain to her just how rude she was being. Not only did she fall unconscious in the middle of a conversation with him, but she left only the half-breed to tend to his needs until she awoke. As he turned back toward his younger half-brother, Sesshoumaru noticed his words had been completely ignored.

"Half-breed, if you continue shaking her like that she will be unable to get the rest that she requires and she will simply remain ill longer. She is in no danger of dying so let it be," Sesshoumaru instructed only to continue to be ignored. Tired of listening to Inuyasha's whines and calls for her to awaken, he made his way back over to the two of them, and picked him up by the back of his shirt. Ignoring Inuyasha's grumbles, he dropped him next to the fire and gracefully took a seat beside him.

"It would seem the priestess has lapsed in her training of you, your manners are atrocious. Do try to remember in the future that it is considered rude to ignore someone who is speaking to you," Sesshoumaru commanded before turning his attention toward the fire. Having decided the conversation was over, the only thing left for him to do was wait until she woke and staring into the flames seemed as good a way to pass the time as any.

"It ain't my manners that need work, it's yours. Kagome says I never have to answer anyone who calls me a half-breed, I have a name. Use it if you know it, if you don't just ask me," Inuyasha huffed as he jammed his hands into his sleeves before staring into the fire himself. Getting bored of it quickly, he made his way back over to where his toys were and began to play with them once again. Soon he was so wrapped up in what he was doing, he had completely forgotten about the other demon's presence.

Following his actions out of the corner of his golden eyes, Sesshoumaru decided against asking him why he switched between calling her momma and Kagome, figuring he probably did not realize he was even doing it. "Do you wanna play with me?" Inuyasha inquired after a few minutes of silence had passed between them, drawing his attention back to the present. Confused as to why he would believe the offer would appeal to him, or why he would even make it, Sesshoumaru simply stared at him in silence.

"Kagome says the silence is boring and usually plays with me when there's nothing else for her to do. And she says that good people share what they have with those who don't have anything and you don't have any toys," Inuyasha explained in his childish logic as he gestured to the toys that were scattered around him before going back to the one in front of him. "It don't mean I like you though, just Kagome says that not liking someone is even more reason to share with them.

"It don't make no sense to me, but she says that if everyone was willing to share with those they don't like, then there would be no more reason to not like them. I learned it's better to just do what she says, whether you understand it or not," he continued, seemingly talking to his toy rather than to Sesshoumaru as it had kept his complete attention throughout the entire monologue. Apparently finished speaking, he picked up another toy and began a fight between them.

Realizing he had no intention of speaking to him further, Sesshoumaru turned his attention away from him and began glancing around the hut, wondering how the two of them could live in such a small space. As he did, a group of strange, charcoal lines near the doorway caught his eye. Making his way over to them, he stared at them in silence for a few moments but was unable to discover their meaning. "What are these?"

Glancing up, and seeing what he was referring to, Inuyasha jumped to his feet with a huge grin and made his way over to him. "It's me," he explained as he pointed to the highest one, bouncing in place. Finding his answer unsatisfactory, Sesshoumaru simply raised an eyebrow in question. "Like this," he continued as he stepped up against the wall and placed his hand on top of his hand, lining it up with the topmost line.

"Kagome says that important moments in life should be recorded and she makes a new line every time I grow. She says that soon I will shoot up so tall that I will out grow her," he informed hims excitedly as he stepped back away from the wall and pointed to a small check mark out of his reach. "That's Kagome. She says she doesn't need any lines cause she isn't gonna grow anymore. This one," he continued, pointing at the lowest line, "was when we first built the hut.

"Since then, I've grown this much." He indicated the amount by spreading his arms out, further apart than what was really accurate, causing Sesshoumaru's eyebrow to disappear into his hairline. "Do you want your height measured too? Though I'm not big enough to do it, Kagome will have to when she wakes up. Are you gonna grow anymore or are you done like Kagome?" he rambled on, making Sesshoumaru wish he had never inquired about the lines in the first place.

"No," he responded, as though the single word answered all of his questions, before making his way back over to the fire. Understanding that meant the conversation was over, Inuyasha simply shrugged his shoulders before making his way back to his toys, picking back up where he had left off as if he had not been interrupted at all. Retaking his place beside the fire, Sesshoumaru tuned out the noises made by his half-brother and settled in for a long night of waiting.

* * *

"You are getting heavy," I grumbled as I awoke and felt Inuyasha's weight crushing me into the futon. Not receiving an answer and deciding it meant he was still asleep, I opened my eyes and gently pushed him off to the side, sitting up as I stretched. Though I was not quite over my cold yet, I was at least well enough to get up and moved around, and figured I would get breakfast started before he had the chance to wake up and complain about being hungry.

I placed my feet on the cold floor and began to stand when I noticed an annoyed pair of golden eyes glaring at me through the dark room. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes at him, I continued making my way over toward the long cold fire and began getting it going once again. "Good morning, Sesshoumaru-sama, I would apologize for making you wait, but as I had no control of getting sick, I have nothing to apologize for really.

"But now that I am well enough to get out of bed and speak for more than a few seconds, I have time to discuss whatever it was you came here to talk about. Well as long as you do not mind me multitasking as I need to make breakfast at the same time," I told him, not really caring if what I was saying mattered in the least to him. Instead of waiting for his answer, as it usually took him a while to speak, I set to getting breakfast cooking.

"Was this Sesshoumaru mated?" he inquired after a long moment of silence and not understanding the question, I simply glanced over at him in question as I waited for him to elaborate further. Apparently catching my inquiring gaze, he continued, "This Sesshoumaru believes it is referred to as 'married' in human terms." As my lips formed an 'o' expression, I thought back over the years since I had first met him, trying to remember if there was ever any mention of a wife.

Unable to come up with a single reference, I turned back to cooking as I replied, "I would not know, Sesshoumaru-sama. As I have said before, we were not really even allies and I know very little about your personal life. Even if you were, I would not have known. Is there any way to tell without asking? Like humans wear rings on their ring finger once they get married." Turning back to him, I gestured to the finger I was referring to.

"There is one way with dog demons that is easy to understand and recognize, how many Mokomoko-sama did this Sesshoumaru have?" Thoroughly confused, I simply repeated what he had asked, having no idea what he was talking about. "This," he explained as he gestured to the large, white pelt-like thing thrown over his shoulder. Nodding my head, I thought back to the last time I saw him in the future, remembering him having only one and told him as much.

"Than this Sesshoumaru was not mated yet. The first one is received when we come of age, the second on the eve of our mating," he explained before falling into silence once again. Thinking the conversation was over, I turned my full attention back to what I was doing, figuring he would leave now that he had his answer. But apparently, as he started speaking again, he was not quite finished yet with his inquiry.

"This Sesshoumaru was hoping you knew who I was mated to, to inform me if it was a good match or not. Though, if I was not mated by then, it would seem that none of the candidates were found worthy by me," he explained and after a moment, I realized what he had said. He already had suitors lined up during this time and out of curiosity, I turned back to him in question. "There are four seeking a mate-ship with this Sesshoumaru:

"Yura, a young demoness with a strange obsession with hair, Princess Abi, a bird demoness, Ayame, a young wolf demoness and Kijo, who is the only one older than I, though I am not entirely sure what class of demoness she is, she is a shape shifter so it is difficult to know her original form," he explained and I fought against the urge to laugh. Who would have thought I would know every one of his would be suitors.

"Well there is good news and bad news; good news is I know all of them and can tell you with certainty that you did not mate any of them. In fact, three of them are dead in the time I come from. Bad news, none of them would probably be suitable. Yura was overly obsessed with Inuyasha's hair and tried to kill him to take it, we ended up killing her. Abi, I will admit, I did not know her very well before she was killed, but I doubt you will see her as powerful enough.

"Ayame, while she would probably be the most respectable out of the four and in fact is a sort of friend of mine, it is unlikely she would mate you. No doubt the idea was suggested by her grandfather. When she was a child, which has more than likely already happened, she was engaged to Kouga, of the wolves and was still in love with him when I met her. Kijo, who I was not aware was a demoness, as when I met her was in the form of a human woman, is too obsessed with unearned power.

"You remember I spoke to you before about the Shikon no Tama, she was one of the ones seeking to use it, while you never wanted it as you considered it weak to use power that was not earned. As such, I doubt you would have much interest in her truthfully. But I suppose on the bright side, now that you know you are not mated to them in the future, you can begin looking for other candidates," I commented with a shrug before turning back and pulling breakfast off of the fire.

After inquiring as to whether or not he would be eating, and receiving a negative response as I was expecting, I dished up two plates, handing one to the now awake Inuyasha as he walked over and sat down beside me. As it took him quite a while to really wake up in the morning, I knew he had not heard any of our conversation and did not worry about him asking questions I was not ready to answer. Giving him a quick smile, I turned to my breakfast and began to eat, hoping Sesshoumaru would drop the conversation since we now had an audience.

* * *

After breakfast was finished, and the dishes were washed, I set Inuyasha up with a target to practice with his sword before heading to my own, which was a good distance away from his. Though he had learned, after many painful burns, not to come too close when I was using my power, I still did not wish to take any chances when it came to his safety. Notching the first arrow, I aimed it at the center of my target, filled it with holy power and let it fly, before repeating my actions.

Without pause, or caring if I hit the bull's-eye or not, I fired each arrow consecutively until my quiver was emptied and quickly collected the spent arrows. As I was making my way back to my place, Sesshoumaru, whom had decided to sit outside and apparently pretend to not watch, inquired, "Why do you fire them like that? Your skills are not good enough to hit the target each time at that speed, why not slow down until you can improve your accuracy?"

"It is not my accuracy that I am training, but my stamina. Currently I can only last for fifteenth minutes in a full out battle, most I have participated in have lasted well over an hour. My power saps too much energy from me and makes me useless after only a few minutes. How well I can hit a target is meaningless if I do not have the strength to continue fighting," I explained before turning back to my target and began emptying my quiver once again.

"There is an easier way to build stamina," he informed me after I had shot off my last arrow and, curious, I turned toward him hoping he would elaborate. "Sit in a meditating position and draw out all of your power. Then simply hold it until you no longer can. Rest and repeat," Sesshoumaru instructed before apparently dismissing my presence entirely as he turned his attention toward the surrounding forest.

Shrugging, figuring he knew what he was talking about, I set down my bow and quiver, got into a meditating position and began to draw out my powers. Though it took a while, considering it is a lot harder to control my powers when there was not a medium to focus them on, such as an arrow, eventually I was able to force them to manifest around me. As the minutes passed by, I kept pulling out more power until I could no longer find any within me, and held it until doing so sapped away by strength.

Falling back onto the snow covered ground, I felt my power rush back into my body, like an elastic band that had been stretched and then released. Taking deep breaths, as I tried to regain my energy, I stared up the falling flakes of snow, watching as they twisted and danced in the wind. Glancing over to make sure Inuyasha was still busy practicing and would not over hear our conversation, I turned my attention back to Sesshoumaru.

"Why do you still come here, Sesshoumaru-sama? I can not possibly still have any answers you seek and the last few times you have visited, you simply sat there in silence. Are you here for Inuyasha? If so why is today the first time you have been around him? If not, then why?" I inquired as I rolled over on my side, completely ignoring the snow melting from my body heat and soaking my clothing. He continued to sit in silence for a moment before finally turning his golden eyes to me.

"Curiosity," he replied and I quickly gave him a look stating I would not accept that as an answer, and, most likely out of boredom, he continued, "This Sesshoumaru is curious about you and the half-breed, about your relationship. Are you aware that he called you 'momma' while you were ill? I am not even sure he realized he did so. I am still curious about why a priestess would wish to not only train, but live and even sleep in the same bed with a demon, half or otherwise."

Rolling over onto my back, I crossed my arms under my head, turning back to the falling snow as I answered him, "I have already explained my relationship with Inuyasha to you, Sesshoumaru-sama. He was my best friend and saved me, protected me more times than I can count, I am simply returning the favor. I believe a lot of what is to happen in the future can be altered by him having a better life and if I can stop the destruction before it happens, I fully intend to.

"And I am not saying it was his fault, but his choice to try and use the jewel to become a full-demon, is one of the many steps that lead to what happened. At least if I can get him to learn to trust people, he and Kikyou will not be tricked, preventing her death and his fifty year binding. Perhaps then, they can stop Naraku before he could ever become powerful enough to do any damage. And I suppose more than anything, I want him to know love, to know what it is like to have family.

"You may not agree with his birth and you may even hate him, but you are his family and you have never treated him as such. Everybody, whether they are human, demon or half, deserve to know what it is like to matter to someone, to be loved, have someone they can call family. He does not deserve to spend his life alone and hated for something he had no control over. I hate you, Sesshoumaru-sama, I despise you for everything you have ever done to him, and ever will.

"For turning your back on your little brother when he was just a child and all alone. For blaming him for your father's death and trying to kill him. I hate you for showing up and getting my hopes up for you to spend some time with him, only to find you leaving again without him ever knowing you were even here. Inuyasha has never done anything, and I mean anything, to earn your hate and spite. He did not chose to be born a half-demon and he is not responsible for your father's death.

"Inu no Taisho chose to risk his life to save them, how dare you put that on a child? Any parent would gladly die for their child if the need arose and one day you will understand that if you are ever blessed with children, just as I already do. He may not be my child or related by blood, but I would die without a second thought to save him. But even more than I hate you, I pity you. You have never experienced love, have you?" I questioned sadly before glancing over to him a few moments later, only to find him no longer there.

Sighing, I sat up as I stretched, figuring I had probably made him leave for good. As much as I wanted him to play his role in Inuyasha's life, since it appeared he had no intention of doing so, Inuyasha was better off without him. I knew I was being mean, but I meant what I had said about protecting Inuyasha at all costs. Shaking my head to clear thoughts of dog demons, I positioned myself again and began drawing out my powers for round two.


	5. Faithful Guardian & Serious Consequences

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: Faithful Guardian and Serious Consequences

Author: Hairann

Prompt: Spectrum Challenge - Blue

Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort

AU/CU: CU/Divergence

Rating: T

Warnings: Set in past tense, violence.

Word Count: 4826

Summary: Kagome returns late from the future.

Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 5 of Rewriting History.

* * *

"Inuyasha, do not argue with me. You know the rules. When I go to visit my family, you have to stay in the village. I have already skipped the last few visits because you did not want to go there, but you have out grown your winter jacket again, we are out of ramen and I am out of medical supplies. We have to stock up, which means you have to put up with the villagers for a little while. They do not know you are really a half-demon, so they should not cause any problems," I assured him, glaring at the uncooperative, temporarily human, Inuyasha.

"Even when I'm human they still give me dirty looks cause I don't have any parents. The kids make fun of me and the grownups pity me, I hate going there. I don't see why I have to anyways, I can take care of myself. I'm not a baby anymore," he insisted, reminding me of his rough human age. If I remembered correctly, my mother had said that boys go through a bit of a rebellion around five or six. Apparently it was the same for those that were half human.

"I am not saying you are a baby, Inuyasha, but the rosary still has not been activated, and I will not activate it on your human night. Without out, you can not get through the well and I will not leave you here tonight by yourself. When I get back, we can talk about activating it so next month you can come with me, my mom has been bugging me about bringing you back as it is, but for tonight, you will have to deal with the villagers.

"I am sorry they are giving you so much trouble, but as this is the first time you have told me, I had no way to know. For now, please do not argue with me and just get ready to leave. I will only be gone an hour, at the most, so you will not have to deal with them for long. And after this you will not have to stay with them again, alright? So just go for tonight please deal with it for me and I swear, I will make it up to you tomorrow," I promised him, having hoped he would finally drop it.

Surprisingly enough he had, through with a few whispered grumbles as he headed over to his toys and began to gather the ones he wanted to take with him to the village. I breathed a sigh of relief that the issue was resolved for now at least before grabbing my empty backpack and waited by the door for him to finish. Soon enough, he was standing beside me, a sour look on his human face. "I know you are not happy, Inuyasha, but I will come back as soon as I can."

After having assured him of my quick return, I made my way out of our hut, knowing he would be following behind and headed toward the village. Soon enough we had arrived at the leader's hut and after biding Inuyasha a quick goodbye, I continued on toward the well. Not wasting any time, I was soon enough jumping into the well and feeling its magic surrounding me. Once on the other side, I climbed up the old, rotting ladder and made my way into the shrine.

"Welcome home dear, no Inuyasha with you this time either?" my mother greeted me as I walked over the threshold into the house and met her on her way out of the kitchen. "You really outta bring him back at some point, I'm just dying to see him as a child. He must be so adorable right now," she continued on as she led me back toward the kitchen and began setting up a pot of water for tea before I could even ask.

"He will be coming with me next time, apparently the villagers have been giving him some problems but he did not tell me until after he had transformed tonight. And I believe I have mentioned before, that even though he is wearing the rosary, it hasn't been activated yet so he can't come through the well. If he had said something earlier I could have done so before he became human tonight, but Inuyasha being Inuyasha, waited until it was too late.

"As it is I can not stay long tonight, for an hour at the most, but I will bring him with me tomorrow to make it up to him for having to deal with the villagers' pity tonight. I am just going to grab a bag full of stuff and head back," I told her before adding with a soft smile, "After tea of course." As she returned mine with one of her own, my mother made her way over to the whistling tea kettle and began to pour us each a glass of the steamy liquid.

"You mentioned the villagers' pity, why have they been pitying him?" she inquired, blowing the steam from the lid of her mug before taking a careful sip. Before I had the chance to answer her, a large crash had come from the entryway and, after exchanging confused glances with each other, my mother and I made out way toward the front door, only to be met by a sight that had her looking rather faint. My grandfather lay at the bottom of the stairs, books and scrolls scattered around his unconscious body.

It was not hard to understand that he had fallen down the stairs and, completely forgetting about my mother for a moment, I rushed back toward the kitchen to call for an ambulance. The call had ended quickly, as I wished to return to her side before she had the chance to faint and require an ambulance herself. Though the wait was only a few minutes, hours seemed to tick by as we waited for the paramedics to arrive.

After they had loaded him into the back of the ambulance, we followed along behind in my mother's car, with me driving since she did not seem stable enough to do so herself. We traveled in silence, each unable to find anything to say that would not cause the other to feel any better, to worry less. It was not until we had arrived at the hospital and one of the nurses, dressed from head to two in white, informed her that we would have to wait there, that she finally spoke.

And even than, it was to simply yell at the next nurse, who had insisted she filled out paperwork for my grandfather. After assuring her that I would take care of it, I instructed her to go call Souta so he would not return to an empty house and worry. As I got myself as comfortable as I could in one of the hard, waiting room chairs, I began filling out the information about my grandfather, a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I was forgetting about something, though I could not remember what.

* * *

"He is fine. He has a mild concussion and a sprained wrist, but that is all. He was very lucky. A fall like that could have been much worse. He is a little groggy, but you can go in to see your father if you would like." I could hear someone telling my mother, most likely my grandfather's doctor, as I felt myself being pulled back into consciousness. As I sat up from the three chairs I had been laying across, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and turned to my mother just as she was finishing thanking the doctor.

"What time is it?" I inquired groggily, hiding a yawn behind my hand, causing my mother to smile gently at me before glancing down to check her watch. When I heard her tell me it was nearly four thirty in the morning, a light went off in my head and all I could say was a screeched, "Dawn!" before jumping out of my seat and crashing into the floor as I realized my legs were asleep. After working my muscles for a few moments so they could wake up, I stood up again, turning back to her.

"Tell grandpa I said hello. Can I borrow your keys?" I inquired only to be met by a confused look as she tried to understand why I wanted to take her car. "Inuyasha," I explained as if that was enough to make her understand, though apparently it was as she gasped before reaching into her purse and tossing her keys to me. "I'll be back in a few hours," I assured her, giving her a quick smile before rushing toward the door we had come in the night before.

As I rushed toward the car, I could not help but think that he was going to kill me, even if I managed to make it back before he became a half-demon again. I had assured him that I would only be gone an hour and while the older Inuyasha may have understood my grandfather injuring himself as an excusable reason, some how I doubted the younger one would. He would merely see it as me lying to him, abandoning him.

As I hurried through the city, nothing I passed registered in my mind and far too slowly for my liking, I finally arrived back at the shrine, leaving the keys in the ignition as I rushed toward the well. I only had a few minutes to make my way to the village and get him away from them before they all saw him transform. I had to get there in time, I had to save him from the insults and dirty looks that I knew he would receive. I had to protected him.

But as I jumped into the well and made my way out on the other side, I already knew I was too late. The sun had already begun to rise on the horizon and even from where I was, climbing over the lid of the well, I could hear the screams. My worst fears screaming in my head, I ran. Faster than I could ever remember running, I ran. In between the trees, toward the village, I ran. Just as I broke through the treeline overlooking the village, I spotted a very half-demon Inuyasha running toward me, a mob of screaming villagers close behind.

The moment his eyes found mine, I could see the pain, the betrayal within his golden depths and wondered if he would ever forgive me for this. But even as the fear that he never would ate at the back of my mind, I rushed toward him, arriving just quick enough to throw my body over his as the villagers began throwing rocks at him. "Demon spawn! Abomination! Monster!" they screamed above us, but all I could hear was the tears coming from the child underneath me.

"Enough!" I screeched at the top of my lungs, sounding far louder than I even knew was possible for a human, shocking and shutting the villagers long enough for me to glare up at them, careful not to expose him to them. "What the hell is wrong with you people? You are attacking a child!" I yelled at them, watching in satisfaction as they took a step back away from me, but the feeling did not last long as soon enough they were over their shock and throwing rocks at us once again.

"You dare bring that filth into our village? Pass that abomination off as a human? He ate at the table with my children," the village head spat at me and I fought against the urge to point out that they would not become a demon simply by eating with one. I knew it would do no good and would simply make getting us away in one piece a lot harder. As I glanced around, trying to figure out our chances if we simply ran, I noticed a few of the villagers were making their way over with weapons far more dangerous than rocks.

I knew I had to do something quick, something powerful enough to strike fear into them so deep they would dare not attack us, giving me time to get him to safety. No matter how much I wanted to teach them that I would not allow them to attack a child, demon or not, he had to be my top priority. My personal feelings, my boiling rage did not matter at that moment. Able to come up with only one thing that villagers in this time might believe, I decided to play the priestess card.

"Cast one more stone at me and the Kami will not take kindly to this village as they have in the past. You are attacking their vessel and I am protected by them. Unless you wish to suffer their wraith, you will allow us to leave unharmed," I told them in my harshest tone, glaring each in the eyes as I glanced around at the mob surrounding us. Judging by their rising voices and the insults they spat at me, they did not believe me, but for once, luck was on my side.

Just as I began to speak again, it started to rain, pouring chilly water down on all of us. "This is your only warning, the Kami speak if you but listen to them," I insisted, gesturing toward the rain as I decided to take a risk and began to rise to my feet, covering Inuyasha's body with my arms as best I could. "They scream for you to leave us be, warn of the floods that will destroy all of your crops for generations to come if you harm me further."

As I spoke, I silently counted the seconds between the thunder and lightning, already a plan beginning to form in my mind. "You do not believe that what I say is true?" I inquired, already knowing the answer. "The Kami shall show you a sign that I speak the truth," I began just as the thunder boomed above us, and began ticking off the seconds in my mind before continuing, "Show these villagers a sign oh great Kami!" I bellowed out, rising my arms to the sky just as the lightning flashed above us.

Smiling softly to myself as I closed my umber eyes, I whispered to the villagers, just loud enough for them to hear over the rain, "The Kami tell me to walk away. That they will protect me, that they will punish those that try to stop me." This said, I turned and began walking away, sure to keep my head held high and my steps slow. Inside my chest, my heart was pounding and I began to believe that it would explode.

But soon enough we had crossed the treeline, blocking us from their sight and without a word of warning to Inuyasha, I took off at a run toward our cabin. "I am sorry Inuyasha, I am so very sorry," I whispered to him, ignoring the way the rain continued to pelt against me, the way my feet slipped in the mud as I ran. Though I could feel the anger rolling off of him, he still gripped onto my shirt tightly and I could not fight the tears that ran down my cheeks, instantly washed away by the rain.

Throwing open the door the instant we made it home, not caring if I broke it or not, I set Inuyasha down in the middle of the room and raised his chin so he was looking me directly in the eyes. "You are mad at me, you may even hate me right now, and I understand. But right now I need you to lay down on the bed, you can scream at me later," I assured him before stepping back to wait for him to do as instructed only to be met by a confused look.

"I am going to activate the rosary, but it should not hurt as much if you are already lying down on a soft surface. Go lay down," I instructed again and waited until he had done so before whispering a soft 'sit'. As he was pulled down into the futon, unable to move for a little while, I began gathering up our belongings, packing everything into our bags as best I could. By the time I had finished everything, other than his toys, he had moved to sit up on the futon.

"Gather up your toys, Inuyasha. Soon as you are ready, we will leave," I told him as I grabbed his bag and began to help him do so before placing it on his back and picking up mine. I took one last glance around our home of the last few years to make sure I had not forgotten anything we would want, then turned toward the door and made my way out. Behind me I could hear Inuyasha following and, taking his hand in mine, I quickened our pace toward the well.

After I made sure no one was in the area, and would see what we were about to do, I leaned down toward him to explain, "Wear this cloth around your face when we jump through. The other side is going to overwhelm you with smells you are not used to and will probably hurt your nose. The cloth will block some of them out and make things easier on you." Seeing him nod in agreement, I tied the cloth around his face before helping him onto the lip of the well.

Taking his hand in mine once again, I silently counted to three before jumping in and taking him with me. Instantly we were on the other side and Inuyasha ripped his hand from my to cover his nose, the cloth apparently not working well enough. "Come on, we should get you inside, the smells will not be as strong in there," I promised him as I helped both of us to climb from the well before guiding him to the house.

As we walked inside, it was obvious that my mother had still yet to return, not that I was expecting her to, as the house was dark and quiet, our long cold tea still sitting on the table where we had left it. Figuring he would be hungry, I made my way toward the pantry, grabbing a couple of packages of ramen before putting water on to boil. Behind me, Inuyasha made his way around the kitchen, sniffing and growling at everything he found that he did not recognize.

Trying my best to not laugh at how cute he look, I watched as he stuck his nose up in the air and sniffed a few times before turning back to me. "There is no one here. I thought you said your family lived here," he told me before making his way out of the kitchen, apparently planning on exploring the rest of the house. After making sure I would have enough time to give him a tour before the water would be ready, I hurried to catch up to him.

"They do, but they are at the hospital right now. My grandfather fell down the stairs last night. He is alright now, but my mom is staying there with him. My younger brother is probably staying over at a friend's house," I explained and seeing the understanding dawn in his golden eyes, I continued, "Yes that is the reason I was late to pick you up and I am sorry. I can assure you that it will never happen again."

"Cause you won't make me stay at anymore villages when you come back? You'll bring me with you?" he questioned, pinning me with his 'don't you dare say no' look and wisely I nodded my head before hearing the tea kettle begin to whistle. "I don't see why I had to stay there in the first place," Inuyasha grumbled under his breath before he followed behind me, climbing up in one of the dinning chairs to watch as I finished preparing the ramen.

"Because I did not wish to have to activate the rosary unless it was necessary. Using it will hurt you and I do not want to cause you pain. Right now, just worry about eating so we can go take a hot bath and warm up," I instructed, noticing we were still continuing to drip water onto the floor. Figuring I would clean it up after the bath, I quickly finished off my bowl, made another for Inuyasha and began making my way upstairs to start the water.

As I waited for it to fill, I began gathering clothes for us to change into, including some modern ones for Inuyasha, before heading back downstairs to check on him. He had just finished up his ramen when I walk in the door and, sitting the bowl aside, he sat there and stared at me. "If you are ready for your bath, just head upstairs. Follow the sound of water," I told him with a smile as I began gathering up the dishes and placed them in the sink.

When I turned around to head back upstairs, I found Inuyasha still sitting in his seat, staring at me. "Were you still hungry?" I inquired and he shook his head no. "Thirsty?" Again he shook his head. "You do not want to go upstairs by yourself?" I ventured and this time he remained unmoved, a clear sign that the answer was yes, but that he did not want to admit it. Smiling softly to him, I reached out my hand and waited until he had taken it before leading him up to the bathroom.

* * *

"You're here, Kagome." I heard my mother comment as she arrived in the kitchen, startling me. Glancing up from my cup of tea I nodded to her, watching as she looked around the room before turning back toward me with an inquiring expression. Before she even had the chance to voice her question, I already knew what she would ask. "No Inuyasha? I was hoping you would bring him back with you when you came back today."

As I poured her a cup of tea, sitting it in front of her as she sat down across from me at the table, I answer, "He is here. Inuyasha fell asleep on the couch watching television. Once he figured out it was not going to attack him and stopped growling at it, I could not get him to stop watching." Silently I waited as my mother stood up and made her way back toward the other end of the house, no doubt to get a quick peek at the slumbering half-demon.

Only a few moments passed before she returned to the kitchen, a large smile adorning her face. "He is so adorable," she squealed softly, careful not to wake him up as she retook her seat and began sipping on her hot tea. "He seems rather worn out though, he's in such a deep sleep he didn't notice me playing with his ears. What's got him so tired?" she questioned concerned, not used to the older Inuyasha sleeping so deeply when he was in this time.

"I am pretty sure he was up all night waiting for me. I got back too late, the sun had already begun to rise and the villagers caught Inuyasha in his half-demon form. He is a bit upset with me today, as is to be expected, but I figured we would stay here a few days to make them think we are gone completely before heading back to find a new place to live. I will have to start coming after dark, though I will be bringing him with me from now on, but I do not want to chance any of the villagers spotting us.

"The well is safe for now since they believe it to be cursed and will not go anywhere near it, but if they see us going through it, I have no doubt they will try and destroy it. We will still come around the new moon each month, but I think it will be for a day before and after instead of just a few hours that day. I will feel much better if he is here when he is human. How is grandpa doing?" I inquired deciding to switch topics for a while, I was still rather pissed off at the villagers and worried I would raise my voice if I continued speaking of them.

"He is doing good. He's already grumbling about coming home and is annoyed he missed you. But thankfully you will still be here when he returns tomorrow. I'm supposed to pick him up rather earlier tomorrow, you may want to get some sleep while you can," she warned me with a slight smile and knowing that, between him and Souta, I would be waking up rather early, I nodded my head in agreement before rising to my feet.

"I will take Inuyasha up with me. I do not want him to wake up in a strange house with out me there. If he does happen to wake up before me, do not try to go near him, just have him wake me up or do it yourself if he will not listen. I am sure nothing will happen, but I do not want to take any chances before I have the chance to introduce him to you guys," I instructed, waiting for her nod before continuing on toward the front room.

Careful not to wake him, I lifted Inuyasha into my arms and quietly walked up the stairs to my old room. Gently placing him on the bed, I climbed in next to him and covered us both up before closing my eyes to sleep. Beside me, I could feel Inuyasha twitching about in his sleep and pulled his flush against me, knowing my warmth and presence would calm down, what was no doubt, a nightmare. Hearing him settle down, I allowed sleep to overtake me as well.

* * *

"Silence, Jaken," Sesshoumaru instructed, having heard enough of the shorter demons constant questioning where they were going, who they were going to see, why they were going to see them and so forth. It had only been a couple of weeks since the small, toad-like demon had begun following him and Sesshoumaru had decided to use him in an experiment. The strange priestess that looked after his half-brother claimed to have no problems with demons as long as they did not attack innocent people, but no doubt, her true colors would be seen once she saw this particular demon.

With the exception of his own kind, no other demons could stand his outward appearance and he knew she would be unable to as well. Her innocent act was just that and he was going to prove it. Though judging by the scene before him, as he crossing the threshold into the clearing where her hut was, he would be unable to do as he wished. Before him, the hut burned brightly, charcoal logs all that remained of the one room home she had built with the half-demon.

Having no idea what was going on, Jaken made his way over to warm his hands near the flames before turning back to find the taller demon sniffing the air. Curious, he mimicked his actions but could not smell anything besides the burning wood. "There is no stench of blood," Sesshoumaru commented before sniffing the air once again, this time seeking out the priestess and his half-brother's scents. "Come," he instructed as he followed the trail they had left behind the day before, only to find himself confused when they arrived at an old, dry well.

Shrugging his shoulders, Sesshoumaru sat gracefully next to it to wait her return. Still not sure what was going on, but understanding there would be there for a while, Jaken began gather leafy branches, making a small awning from them to sit under and protect himself from most of the rain that continued to fall above them. Seeing his makeshift shelter, Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow before deciding whatever question he had been thinking did not need to be asked, and stared off into the forest as he waited.


	6. Patient Priestess and Determined Demon

Title: Patient Priestess and Determined Demon

Author: Hairann

Prompt: Spectrum Challenge - Indigo

Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort

AU/CU: CU/Divergence

Rating: T

Warnings: Set in past tense

Word Count: 2287

Summary: Time to start again.

Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 6 of Rewriting History.

* * *

As I felt the magic surround us and transport us back in time, I breathed in deeply the refreshing scent of nature, knowing instantly I was where I was supposed to be. Glancing over my shoulder at the still sleeping half-demon that was strapped to my back, I quickly made sure the trip had not woken him up before reaching up to grab onto the vines and started climbing my way toward the top. With each step, my worry grew that I would wake him up, but he remained oblivious to my current work out.

Seeing the lip of the well before me, marking the end of our climb, I smiled softly to myself before I heaved us up and out of the well, landing silently on the grass covered ground beside it. As I adjusted the weight on my back, I noticed a long, dark shadow fall over me and glanced up to find Sesshoumaru towering over us. Not sure why he was there next to the well, and not really in the mood to deal with him, I decided to just ignore him and hopefully keep Inuyasha asleep. But as I moved to walk around him, I was startled by the small, toad demon that was standing next to him.

"Oh," I mumbled as I shook my head to get over the shock of seeing him. "I thought you two did not meet up until later," I commented as I turned toward Sesshoumaru only to remember I did not want to speak to him. Shrugging it off, as the answer was not really all that important, I continued on, wanting to make camp far enough away from the village before Inuyasha woke up. But as I continued on, it soon became apparent that the demon lord had other ideas as he followed after me and quickly over took me.

"Did you want something?" I spat at him in a hoarse whisper, ignoring the startled screech that came from Jaken until he began screaming at me to not insult his lord. Turning my attention to him, I whispered, "Wake up the child and I will purify your ass, baldy." Apparently noticing Inuyasha for the first time, he had the decency to look sheepish for a moment, though it did not last long. But as he remained silent and instead opted to glare at me darkly, I decided it was good enough for now and turned back to Sesshoumaru.

"This Sesshoumaru wishes to speak with you," he informed me and unable to help myself, I snorted before regaining control of myself and giving him a look that clearly relayed the message that I did not completely believe him. Not to be deterred, Sesshoumaru simply reworded his statement, "This Sesshoumaru has matters to discus with you." This time, I merely blinked at him for a few moments in silence before rolling my eyes and turning my back on him. Judging by the noise Jaken gave off, he was rather unhappy about the move.

"I really could not care less if you have 'matters to discus with me'," I mimicked, allowing my voice to drop a few octaves so I sounded more like him, "I have no desire to speak with you. So I suggest both of you be on your way." I knew I was being rather hard on him and no doubt royally pissing him off, but as it was, I was still extremely emotional about what had happened with the villagers and about his last visit. I had called him out on everything he had done and he could not say a word in his defense. Instead, he had just left while I was still speaking.

And more than I was mad at him, I pitied him and the last thing I needed right then was to try and come to terms with why I pitied him. It was usually an emotion you saved for people you cared about. You had sympathy for strangers, but you pitied those you cared for. Right then, all I needed to worry about was how I was going to take care of Inuyasha, not waste any of my time contemplating my feelings for his half-brother. Especially since whatever it turned out that I felt for him would not matter. Sesshoumaru was, after all, Sesshoumaru.

As I was walking, and noticed that they continued to follow me even if they remained silent while doing so, I decided it would be best to simply ignore them. Though I would not really mind speaking with Jaken, if for no other reason than to see how he was like at this point in history, I knew he would no doubt raise his voice at me and wake Inuyasha. Getting to have a conversation with a Jaken I did not know yet, was not worth it.

For well over an hour I walked in silence, hoping to be far enough away from the village that they would not find us, but also wanting to make a point of going at a speed I was comfortable with. I knew Sesshoumaru would be accustomed to going much faster, even at that point in history, and no doubt it annoyed him greatly to be forced to walk at my speed. Though I knew I was playing with fire, I doubted he would attack me no matter how much I annoyed him, at least not while I was unarmed and carrying a child on my back. But more than the fear I did have that he might one day attack me for my actions, I wanted him to know he could not control me.

He needed to learn that I did not respond well to attempts to control me through fear. I do not know why it even mattered to me, I only knew that I had to show him that not all humans would cower before him, would succumb to their fear and obey his every command. Perhaps I still felt as though I were standing behind the older Inuyasha, shielding me from his wrath, but for whatever reason, I did not feel the fear I should be feeling. I knew what Sesshoumaru was capable of, I knew that by pushing the buttons I had been I could very well be giving him the reason he needed to kill me, but I knew no fear.

Sesshoumaru no longer frightened me, now when I was practically alone in the world and my once protector was centuries away from being strong enough to defeat him, I found myself the least worried I had ever been in his presence. Though I could not begin to even fathom a reason why. He was simply no longer a threat to me. Though I doubt he would agree if I had told him this. Finding myself at a suitable spot to make camp, at least for the night, I gently removed Inuyasha from my back and began unrolling my sleeping bag.

Once he was tucked in, and I was sure he was staying asleep, I walked away as I began gathering firewood, knowing neither of them would attack him in his current state. As I did, it soon became apparent that while Jaken remained back with Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru had opted instead to follow after me. Knowing he would eventually speak whether I prompted him to or not, I decided to wait on him, adding another thorn in his side at being ignored. "What has happened?" he finally inquired after a long moment had passed, stepping into my path and preventing me from returning to camp.

"Very well Lord Sesshoumaru, I shall answer your question but only if you promise to answer mine," I offered, waiting until he had nodded his head in agreement before continuing. "I had managed to keep the fact that Inuyasha is a half-demon away from the villagers nearby, but they found out and we were forced to flee. We stayed in my time until I felt it was safe to return. Now, we will rebuild somewhere else and start again. My question, why are you here?"

As I waited, the demon before me remained silent for a long moment and I began to believe he was going to refuse to answer me even though he had given his word, but finally, he spoke. "This Sesshoumaru was conducting an experiment. He wished to see if you would be prejudice against Jaken due to his appearance. Though it has failed seeing as this was not the first time you saw him." Ever so slightly in his tone, I could swear I heard a hint of disappointment and could not help but laugh.

"Sorry to disappoint you Lord Sesshoumaru, but I did not treat him any differently the first time we met because of his looks. There was no need to, considering he was helping you to try and kill Inuyasha and I at the time. But as I am sure I told you before, I do not judge a person or a demon by what they are, simply who they are. And while Jaken may not be very attractive to me, that does not mean he is not attractive to his own kind. Heck for all I know, he could be a stud to other toad demons.

"Which is why looks will never effect how I treat someone. By now, you should know me better than that. If you do not, you pay even less attention to what I than I could have imagined. Now if you do not mind, I need to leave early in the morning to begin rebuilding. It is time I got some sleep," I told him before walking around him and making my way back toward camp. It was not long before I had a nice fire going and had settled in next to Inuyasha for the night. Though I could not see them, I could hear Jaken lay down some where behind me on the other side of the fire and knew Sesshoumaru would be resting against a tree nearby. Knowing that meant I was safe for anyone trying to attack during the night, I allowed myself to fall into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next morning when I awoke, I instantly noticed three things. First, Sesshoumaru was gone. Second, Jaken was not. And third, Inuyasha was currently looking at him as though he was what was for breakfast. Deciding quickly that the best idea would be to get him fed before he really did try to eat Jaken, I drew Inuyasha's attention to myself as I began going through my backpack and pulled out a few packages of ramen. The result was instantaneous and my young friend forgot all about Jaken and sat next to me while he waiting for it to be ready.

"Jaken," I began once Inuyasha was too busy sniffing the unopened packages to pay us any attention, quickly getting his. "We are going to be heading out after breakfast and you are welcome to join us. I am sure Lord Sesshoumaru will catch up and pick you up there when he returns. If he did not give you any instructions, then I am sure this is what he intended for you to do. If you do not want to do so, then you can wait here." Not bothering to wait for an answer, I went back to preparing breakfast. Once it was ready, we quickly ate and packed up before heading out of camp. Jaken followed.

The silence had settled over our little group for only a few minutes when Jaken began to speak, "Are you his mother?" I did not have to see him to know he was referring to Inuyasha and at the say time we answered him. I with a negative and Inuyasha with a positive answer. Hearing the annoyed squawk that came from behind me, I knew our answers had only confused him further.

"I am more of an adoptive mother," I explained as I glanced over my shoulder at him, hoping he knew what adoptive meant and I would not have to explain it. Instead of questioning what it meant, he simply wondered why. Knowing he referred to the fact that Inuyasha was a half-demon, I explained, "Because whether someone is a human or a demon, makes no difference to me."

Again he asked why. "Because it is who a person is that is important, rather than what they are," I explained further, hoping he would be satisfied and drop the subject. Instead, he asked why once again. Finding myself wondering if he was simply going to ask why every time I gave him an answer, I turned back to stare at him in silence for a full minute before finally sighing softly and turning back around. "Because people have no control over what they are born as, but they can control who they become."

Apparently satisfied with my answer, Jaken fell into silence once again and I smiled softly to myself. Though I had no idea how old he might have been, in that moment, he reminded me so much of a child. The constant questioning until he had an answer that he understood. In fact, I always expected him to end the conversation with 'okay love you, bye bye', but then I remembered he had no way of having seen the American cartoon and would not know the line. But the idea of Jaken repeating that was enough to make me laugh out loud, causing my companions to stare at me in confusion.


	7. Untarnished Dignity, Overwhelming Frustr

Title: Untarnished Dignity, Overwhelming Frustration

Author: Hairann

Prompt: Spectrum Challenge - Violet

Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort

AU/CU: CU/Divergence

Rating: T

Warnings: Mentions nudity, propositioning

Word Count: 3381

Summary: Sesshoumaru crosses the line.

Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 7 of Rewriting History. Yes I finally finished this chapter!

* * *

Though it had been slow going, I knew that day that it would not take too long for us to complete our new home. There was not much either of them could really do to help, but their willingness to try, their eagerness to help was enough to make my job seem that much easier. Sesshoumaru had not returned in the week since he left Jaken with us, but I was grateful for that. Not only did I not have to deal with him, but I also had Jaken's help.

Even without being able to do much with the building, he did manage to keep an eye on Inuyasha when I was busy and had even become a sort of playmate for him. They would chase each other around the clearing for hours, stopping only when I called them to a meal, before continuing again. I was actually quite surprised that the smaller demon was able to keep up with him, but I soon realized I had no idea how old Jaken was; in this time or in the future.

And that knowledge made me realize also that I have no idea what a toad demon might look like as a child. Were they smaller? Faces chubbier? Were they even able to leave the water? If toad demons started out as tadpoles anyways. I would have to remember to ask him at some point, but it would not be that day. I would have something far more aggravating weighing on my mind and wouldn't have time to worry about how old he was.

I had been working on the hut all day and the sun was just beginning to set. Wanting to get cleaned up before I lost the light, I instructed the two mini demons to keep an eye on each other and grabbed my bathing supplies. Though the water was far too cold at that time of the year to bath in the river, I could get by with a sponge bath if I was quick. And after a long day of sweating and getting dirty, I could suffer the cold for a little while.

After I sat my things down beside the river's edge, I quickly stripped down to my underwear; not worried about anyone stumbling upon me. It was far too cold for others to be out this far and they should all be heading in doors to eat their supper. In fact I would be starting ours the moment I arrived back at the clearing. If I did not, I would have two hungry and annoyed demons on my hands very quickly.

Sitting down on top of my clothes, I had begun bathing myself with the cold water from the river, paying little attention to what was going on around me. There was no reason for anyone to be nearby and I knew I did not need to worry about it; which is exactly why I felt a presence nearing just as I was finishing up. I tried to cover myself as best as I could even as I turned to glare at Sesshoumaru, finding him standing behind me; not even bothering to have the decency to look away.

"Rude much?" I demanded as I threw the still wet rag I had been cleaning myself with at him, not bothering to take the time to care that he had easily dodged it. "I would have thought you had better manners than this, but I suppose I should not be surprised. The first time we met you just barged into my hut as though you owned the place. But do try to have at least some decency and turn around so I can get dressed."

As I waited for him to do just that, I quickly found that I would be waiting a long while. Instead of giving me some privacy by turning his back, he simply looked me over for a moment before informing me, "You might as well leave those off. I wish to rut with you." Thrown off by the sudden, and way out there idea of actually sleeping with Inuyasha's older brother, all I could do was stand there staring at him in shock for a long moment.

I had just about decided that I had to have misheard him, as that was quite possibly the most idiotic thing I could have ever heard coming from him, when I realized he was staring openly at the more intimate parts of my body that my hands were not quite covering. "Why? What possible reason could you have for asking me that?" I demanded as I quickly reached down for my haori and held it up in front of my naked body to at least give me some small amount of privacy.

"I am curious," Sesshoumaru began and realizing he was intending on stopping there, I made sure to pin him with a stare that clearly stated that would not be enough. Though he made it sound as though he was intending to continue from the beginning, I decided having the answer was more important than informing him that I was not fooled. "I wish to know what it is like with a human. You are not fertile at the moment and would not risk it resulting in another half-breed."

Though his words seemed completely out of character for the demon I thought I knew, at the same time they also seemed exactly like something he would say. Why should he care how insulting or hurtful it was to tell me that any child we might have had together would have been considered less than nothing by him; would have been an abomination like his half-brother? Why should it matter to him how horrible a first time could be for a human girl especially when it was reduced to nothing more than a loveless rut in the woods?

After I decided that yelling at him would do me no good, I simply shook my head at his thoughtlessness before quickly dressing while making sure to keep myself covered. Once I was sure that everything was back where it was supposed to be, I allowed my anger to rise to the surface and comfort me while I turned ice, cold eyes to him. "Sesshoumaru, there is no way in the seven hells that I am going to lose my virginity to someone just to appease their curiosity. The fact that you would even think I might, clearly shows me you do not even know the most basic things about me."

Having said my piece, I moved to walked passed him so I could return to the camp and get dinner started for the two tiny demons who were probably already starting to get fussy from being hungry. But before I was able to get very far, Sesshoumaru stopped my escape by grabbing onto my arm and forcing me to remain where I was. "You never rutted with Inuyasha."

Though he said it as a comment, it was not hard to hear the question in his words; as though such a thing was unimaginable to him. "No, our relationship never got anywhere near close to that point," I informed him and once again moved to head back to camp, but soon found he had no intention of letting me go yet. Instead of asking him what he wanted, though it would not have been quite so polite, I turned my still cold eyes to his once more.

"So you intend on saving yourself until he is old enough?" he questioned almost as an accusation and before I could even realize what I was doing, my hand had slapped his cheek with all my strength with my free hand; causing a loud ringing to echo around us and for the spot to turn bright red almost instantly. Unable to prevent it and no longer caring how much emotion he saw from me, I ignored the tears that suddenly appeared.

"Not that it is any of your business, Sesshoumaru, but I no longer think of Inuyasha like that. How could I when I now know him as a scared, defenseless child? But you should not worry either way, for I will never sleep with you," I vowed before wrenching my arm from his grasp and heading back toward the camp. Though I could hear his whispered words of confusion, I decided he did not deserve an answer.

"Who said anything about sleeping?"

...

Even as I returned to camp and found the two small demons waiting to be fed, I could still hear Sesshoumaru following behind me, but decided not to pay him any mind. If he didn't want to listen to what I had said, then I was not required to even bother acknowledging his presence. I put him as far from my mind as his overwhelming presence would allow me to and began setting up a pot of water to boil.

I had originally intended to make a healthier dinner that night, but I doubted, given the looks that I was receiving, that the two demons would be willing to wait that long. Cooking ramen was much faster and I had to admit, I was slacking when it came to seeing our dietary needs. Tomorrow, we definitely needed to have some meat.

As I realized the water was starting to boil, I tore open five packages of ramen, one for me, two for Jaken and three for Inuyasha, and dumped them into the pot. Though I knew he could eat more than three, I had long ago told him that that was the maximum he could have at one time. If he was still hungry after that, then there was some dried fruit that he could munch on.

As I waited for the noodles to cook, I couldn't help but feel the eyes burning into my back as I continued to ignore him. Wanting to piss him off a bit more and knowing he wouldn't attack me while I was unarmed and had my back to him, I decided to give Sesshoumaru a taste of just how rude he was being that visit. Making sure I kept my back to him while keeping an eye on dinner, I glanced toward Jaken to strike up a conversation.

"What I don't understand, Jaken, is how you can stand to travel with such an obnoxious demon. He is completely full of himself, never listens to a thing you say and then acts like you're an idiot when he does something wrong. Why do you put up with that?" I questioned, knowing the little guy would be unable to give me an answer even before the look of fear came over his eyes and he began glancing back and forth between Sesshoumaru and I.

Unconcerned about Sesshoumaru's reaction, as I was pretty sure I already knew what he would do, I began dishing up the ramen and passed it out, as though I had not just insulted the temperamental demon lord. Just as I had thought, it did not take long before he had growled behind me and suddenly his presence had disappeared completely.

He had disappeared once again and I found myself wondering when the moment was that he had no longer been able to attack me. Though I knew he wouldn't kill me for such words, as doing so would only help to prove them correct, the Sesshoumaru I knew in the future would at least threaten to strangle me for insulting him. What had changed?

Even as I thought these words, it dawned on me what had changed and made it so he couldn't kill me. The jewel. The wish must have done it, for if I die, I would not be able to be a positive influence on his life and, in fact, losing me this young might actually make things worse. But did that mean I could not die until I fulfilled the wish?

As I realized I had two set of impatient eyes staring at me and waiting for their second helpings, I turned my attention away from such thoughts and began to fill their bowls before finally turning my attention to my own dinner. It did not take Inuyasha long to scarf down that bowl and the third one I gave him and start to yawn; reminding me how late it was and just how long we had all been up working, or playing in their case.

"Bed time," I told Inuyasha as I began gathering up the bowls to wash them out before I headed to bed later. Though I had only been talking to him, I didn't realize until later that it was the first time I had not said his name after such instructions and never imagined Jaken could mistake the slip to mean I was speaking to him as well.

"I'm not tired," Jaken grumbled and thrown off, I almost laughed and assured him that I didn't mean him as well, but I started to think of how nice it would be to have some time to myself tonight and could remember what he was like in the future. If I could get him to listen to me now, then maybe I wouldn't have to deal with the rude, obnoxious Jaken later.

"Do not act like a child, Jaken. Look, even Inuyasha is acting more mature than you as he is already heading inside to lay down without any complaints. Now we still have a lot of work to do tomorrow so you need to get some sleep," I insisted, fighting the urge to laugh when he glared at me.

Grumbling under his breath about bossy wenches, he began making his way into the hut and I soon heard him get settled down for the night. Smiling to myself for that accomplishment, I began going over what we still needed to do tomorrow in my head. Though the hut was all but finished, we still needed to replace the things we lost in the fire. We had taken everything important, but most of the blankets and dishes that I had hunted or traded for had been destroyed.

There was a lot that would need to be replaced, especially with a third person living with us now. And I would need to go back for supplies soon and keep Jaken from finding out about Inuyasha's human night. I had managed to get rid of him last time by sending him out to hunt, but that wouldn't work every time and it wasn't my place to tell him Inuyasha's secret.

He may be nice enough and staying with us for now, but that didn't mean I had forgotten about the things he had tried to do in the future. If he knew Inuyasha's weakness, I did not doubt him and Sesshoumaru would try to use it against Inuyasha in the future.

...

It had been a few days since my past run in with Sesshoumaru and I was enjoying the break from him. Though he was rarely ever there, every time he did show up, I ended up feeling worn out and exhausted; as though his mere presence alone was enough to drain me of all my energy. Even without him being there, I had felt an overwhelming need to try and relax; stressed out both from his last visit and from the prospect of his next.

I had decided that the best way to relieve my stress and help myself relax was to put all of my energy into concentrating on something else. While Jaken and Inuyasha were inside taking their afternoon nap, I had opted to make my way outside and take a seat in the middle of the yard. It didn't matter that the ground was cold as it too would keep my mind off of him.

Without warning, as I was not expecting anyone to be around and need one, I began to draw out my powers until I could no longer feel them within me and then pulled them back in once I could no longer hold them outside of my body. It is a strange sensation, feeling your very power circling around your form; almost as if it was a corporal being. One all but impossible to explain, but it was doing its job of keeping my mind focused elsewhere and that was all that mattered.

It wasn't until the third time I had called my powers out, and could feel myself staring to become weak from the exertion, that I opened my eyes and found him standing in front of me. Not in the mood to deal with him, I decided it was best to ignore him as I closed my eyes once more and began working on the fourth time. He, however, apparently had other plans as he started dripping poison from his claws close enough to me that I could smell it.

"What do you want, Sesshoumaru? In case you have not noticed, I'm kind of busy," I pointed out as I opened my eyes and glared at the demon who just stood there as though he had done nothing wrong. "Look Sesshoumaru, I do not have all day. The boys will be up from their nap soon and I have a lot to get done before they are. If you want something, say it and go. If not, just go," I told him, not caring that I was being rude; it was exactly what he deserved at that moment.

"I have decided to be gracious just this once and give you the opportunity to apologize. You may begin," Sesshoumaru informed me and unable to stop myself, not that I had really wanted to, I started laughing. For five whole minutes I just sat there laughing at the demon lord that must have been growing angrier my the minute, but I did not care. For him to actually think I owed him an apology after his behavior was bizarre even for him.

"Sorry to break it to you, oh great and powerful Sesshoumaru, but I have nothing to apologize for. In fact, if anyone needs to apologize, that would be you. But do not worry, I do not expect one from you since you have obviously yet to learn that you were the one who was wrong. I will not be holding my breath for you to realize your mistake," I assured him before rising to my feet, finally giving up on any hope of getting anymore meditation done right now.

Even if he was to have left at that very moment, which I knew was unlikely, I would still have him on my mind too much to ever try to relax. "I am a demon lord, who are you to deny me a request let alone slap me for asking," Sesshoumaru demanded, purposefully standing even taller so he could tower over me as much as possible. I could only assume that he figured it would intimidate me even more if he was an inch or two taller.

Sighing, I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head at him. "You know, I have never really been sure if I should be angry with you or pity you. I have finally figured it out; you are far too pitiful to remain angry at. But that is not entirely your fault, obviously your parents did a horrible job teaching you how to properly behave around others. Sesshoumaru, until you are ready to become a real member of sociality, I think it will be best if you stay away from me before I grow to hate you."

"Very well, we shall see how much you like it when I am never around. Send Jaken to me when you are ready to apologize and learn your place," Sesshoumaru told me before turning around and disappearing back into the surrounding forest. For a long moment I just stood there, thinking I should have kicked him in the shin, but eventually decided the pleasure I would have gotten from such an act would have been short lived.


	8. The bitter chill of Winter, the sting

Title: The bitter chill of Winter, the sting of rejection

Author: Hairann

Prompt: Winter

Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort

AU/CU: CU/Divergence

Rating: T

Warnings: Set in past tense, use of BS and talk of sex; nothing explicit

Word Count: 2972

Summary: A few years later, Sesshoumaru shows up for an unwanted visit and Inuyasha runs away.

Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 8 of Rewriting History. And as you may have noticed, I am out of colors for the challenge, so for the next four parts it's going to be the Seasons challenge.

* * *

I should have known that morning, when I woke up and felt the bitter chill of the floor on my feet, that it was not going to be a good day. There was something almost ominous in the freezing air that morning, but I had brushed it off as merely remnants of some forgotten dream.

The day went on with one problem after another. From breakfast ending up on the floor when I turned around to put it on the table only to end up tripping over one of Inuyasha's toys. To the logs in the fire refusing to catch. Even the weather seemed against me that day as heavy winds and many inches of snow continued to thunder against our tiny home.

It was not long before I had realized that I was not the only one feeling cooped up inside as both Jaken and Inuyasha seemed restless and wanting to go outside. While that meant the former was merely more grumpy then usual; glaring at the door as if that was enough to change the weather, the latter was a different story all together.

That day he reminded me so much of his older self when we first started traveling together. Gruff, always in a bad mood, complaining about every little thing that didn't go his way and practically barking at anyone who even looked at him. No matter what I tried to do to make the day a bit more fun for him, I only seemed to make matters worse.

When their afternoon nap time came around, I had never been more grateful for the silence; even of it was only for a few hours. But even that was short lived as he seemed to be even grumpier when he awoke than when he had gone to bed. By supper time it had gotten much worst; to the point I had actually raised my voice at him.

I can not even remember what had started that particular argument but by the end of it we were arguing about whether he was old enough or not to go hunting by himself. I of course thought he was still too young and he thought I was too overprotective. When he had stormed off to his play corner and ignored me for the rest of the night, I thought that was the end of it.

That he would forget all about the fight by morning like he usually did, but I could not have been more wrong. It was not until I awoke the next morning and noticed he was missing that I realized that fight was not at all like the few others we have had; and it was far from over.

Praying he was just outside playing, even as I got dressed to go look for him, I soon found my worst fear coming true; all of his toys were gone. He had run away from home, away from me. Throwing on my shoes and jacket, relieved to find he had taken his own, I rushed toward the door only to find my exit blocked.

Skidding to a stop to avoided running into him, I glared up at Sesshoumaru; not in the mood to deal with him right then on top of everything else that was going on. I waited a moment for him to move out of the way, but soon realized he had no intention of doing so. "I can not visit with you right now, Sesshoumaru, I have to go look for Inuyasha," I informed him before trying to push my way through the door, but he refused to give way for me to pass.

"You need not worry about the half-breed. Jaken is following him," he assured me before making his way completely inside my home. For nearly a full minute, I stood there, torn between going after Inuyasha anyways and giving him the space he obviously wanted. I knew he would be fine with Jaken looking after him, he had proved his ability to protect him in the years he had been with us, but at the same time, I still felt as though it was my job to go hold his hand.

"Come back inside toward the fire. You will catch a cold standing near the open door like that," Sesshoumaru insisted and for a moment I thought about defying him just to annoy him, but as the cold wind began to bite at my skin, I decided it was not worth it. Closing the door, I made my way over to the fireplace and began preparing tea for the both of us.

"Why are you here, Sesshoumaru?" I demanded once the tea was ready and set his in front of him, not caring that I was being rude. He did not deserve politeness and respect from me anyways.

"The elders of my clan have given me an ultimatum. They feel it is improper for an unmated demon lord wandering about the countryside all the time; barely ever going home. They have decreed that if I wish to continue, I must at least produce an heir," Sesshoumaru explained and for a moment I just stared at him, waiting for him to continue since he had yet to actually answer my question.

Realizing he was done speaking, I decided to ask him again; a bit more forcefully this time. "Why are you here, Sesshoumaru? Obviously you did not come to ask me to have your child." I did not need to come from the future to know that was something that would never happen.

"No, they would not accept a half-demon heir even if I did. A perspective bitch has been decided on, but I do not wish for my first time interacting with someone in such a way to be with a demon I do not know; let alone care for," Sesshoumaru informed me, as though I was some gullible child that did not know any better.

"Drop the bullshit Sesshoumaru. Lying is beneath you. Why are you here?" I demanded for the third time; really starting to get annoyed with his completely obvious attempts to lie to me. I did not know which was worst; the thought that he believed me stupid enough to believe him or that he had such little respect for me that he would actually lie to my face like that. Repeatedly.

After heaving a heavy sigh, Sesshoumaru opened his mouth and told me something I could actually believe. "I can not look incompetent; especially in this. She is known as a gossip and I will not rut with her without knowing what I am doing," Sesshoumaru insisted and for a moment, I thought about telling him that he did not actually have an heir in the future.

But I quickly decided that after everything, and now lying to me, he did not deserve a heads up about what ever hassle he was about to go through for nothing. "So, you came here to what? Practice with me?" I inquired, fighting the very strong urge to strangle him when he nodded. "I already told you, Sesshoumaru. I am not losing my virginity to someone I do not love."

"Now who is the one lying? I have seen the way you stare out into the woods at night; searching for my form. If you are not in love with me already, then you soon will be," he insisted and this time it was my turn to sigh heavily.

"You have learned nothing in the few years since your last visit, have you? I want you to leave my house and not come back. Not until you actually learn to treat people like living, breathing creatures with feelings. I do not want to see you around here," I told him sternly, sounding just like I did when I spoke to Inuyasha when he had done something wrong.

Without waiting for him to answer or to see if he would listen, I made my way outside into the cold morning air; ignoring the snowflakes as the began landing on the tip of my nose.

...

With the fresh snow fall from the night before, it was not hard to make out the tracks leading away from our hut. I was happy to notice that Inuyasha's tracks where from his shoes; I had not thought to look for them inside to know if he was wearing them. Following behind them were smaller toe prints and I made a mental note to get Jaken a pair of shoes.

I did not know if he actually needed them, but I thought it would be best to have them just in case. I followed the tracks as far as they went and felt my heart stop for a moment when I heard a splash. Faster than I can ever remember running before, I made a beeline for the clearing I knew the mostly frozen lake rested in.

Once I had a clean line of sight to the water, I stopped in my tracks; unable to believe what I was seeing for a moment. Both Inuyasha and Jaken were standing chest high out in the water, which was roughly the same height for both of them, and the older was teaching the younger how to fish.

Though I dreaded the thought that he might get sick from the cold, I forced myself to stay where I was and not interrupt them. I reminded myself that, even though he was still so little, he was a half-demon and he could handle far more than I tended to give him credit for. When that was not enough and I felt my legs starting toward him, I thought of the future Inuyasha.

More than anything, I did not was him to turn out his the older one had; never trusting anyone and always being so reckless. All because no one had ever believed he could accomplish anything simply because he was half and half. Forcing myself to remain still, I silently watched for a few minutes.

Not all that surprisingly, I felt tears coming on when he managed to catch his first fish and he excitedly showed it to Jaken. Much to my annoyance, though not surprise, Jaken response to him was that there was no reason to be so happy over something as simple as catching a fish. Then without even looking at the fish, he took it and told him to catch more for dinner.

Now that he knew what he was doing, it did not take Inuyasha long to gather enough for the three of us and it dawned on me that they would probably be heading back soon. Not wanting him to get back before me and realize I was looking for him, figuring he was wanting me to give him some space and have confidence in his ability, I began rushing home.

I managed to sit down at the table, now sans Sesshoumaru, seconds before the door crashed opened and the two of them came in snow. Fortunately, Inuyasha did not seem to notice there was snow already there before he added more to it. "Kagome! Look what I caught!" Inuyasha shouted as he rushed toward me with his arms full of fish.

"You caught all of that by yourself? I am so proud of you!" I told him honestly, though I did put more emphasis than was necessary for Jaken's benefit. Ignoring the fish between us, I pulled him close for a hug. "You did such a great job catching all of those fish; how would you like to learn how to cook them tonight?"

I had always refused to let him near the fireplace, afraid he would get burned, but I knew I needed to let him experience life and that would never happen if I was too afraid to let him even try. Once he had nodded his head enthusiastically, I instructed, "Go out the fish on the table and change into some dry clothes. You too, Jaken."

I decided it would be better to not bring attention to his belongings that he had stuffed into one of his shirts and tied on his back so he could carry it around as a makeshift backpack. Apparently waiting until Inuyasha was too busy getting dressed to pay attention to us, Jaken inquired, "Why did you react so greatly to something as simple as catching a few fish?"

"Let me give you some good advice that will help you later on in life. Children are more likely to repeat an action you want them to if you react to it positively. They are less likely to repeat it if you react negatively to it. Since being able to fish is something we want him to be able to do, we have to react positively.

"It may seem silly to you because you already knew how to catch a fish and can probably do it without even thinking, but try to remember a time when you had to learn something for the first time. When you work hard to accomplish something, would you rather have the people you love not care or would rather they be proud of your accomplishment?"

Before he could answer, though the far away look in his eyes that told me he was thinking also let me know that he was not about to anytime soon, Inuyasha made his way back over to us; showing me his clean hands that he had apparently washed after he finished dressing.

...

Later that night, when I had made my way over to the futon to make sure Inuyasha had gotten ready and gone to bed, he asked me a question I should have been expecting and yet it caught me completely surprised. "Why was the big demon here again?"

For a moment I had been confused and glanced around only to confirm my initial suspension; there was no one there. "Who are you talking about, little one?" I questioned once I had turned my full attention back to him.

"The demon like me that wants my daddy's sword," he explained without a hint of fear or dislike in his tone. As if he was not referring to a demon who had already abandoned him, tried to kill him and that coveted his inheritance.

"How do you know he has visited?" I wondered certain they had not crossed paths earlier and that there was no sign of his visit in our home. Honestly though, I should have been expecting his answer.

"I can smell him in the hut," he explained as though it should have been completely obvious and, truthfully, it should have been. I had been around Inuyasha enough, both older and younger selves, to know how much he relied on his nose and just how powerful it was. "Why was he here?"

"He stopped by to ask me a question, that was all," I told him truthfully, already thinking up ways to explain it without actually telling him what he had asked in case his curiosity was not satisfied. At least on that point, he was.

"Is he really my brother?" he inquired softly and for a moment, I could not bear the thought of answering him truthfully and opted to remain silently; worrying my bottom lip. Knowing his patience would not outlast my silence, I sat down on the futon beside him and began running my fingers through his hair once he had laid his head down on my lap.

"He is your half-brother. You two have the same daddy, but a different mommy," I explained even as I wondered if he was old enough, either by demon or human standards, to really understand what that meant.

"If he is my brother, why didn't he come visit me?" Inuyasha asked and his soft, shy words nearly broke my heart. I never really understood just how much Inuyasha craved his brother's love and attention since the older one was so adapt at hiding his pain. The younger one, on the other hand, could not help but show it on his face and in his voice.

Sighing, I leaned my head back against the wall before answering, "Honestly Inuyasha, I really can not answer that question. There were many reasons behind your brother's actions and no reason at all for them." Unsurprisingly, Inuyasha rolled over to look at me with a confused expression.

After thinking about it for a moment, I questioned, "You know how the people back at your mother's village did not like you because you have demonic blood?" Once he had the chance to nod, I continued, "Your brother is the same way, but because of your human blood. He was taught for a very long time that humans were weak and so to have human blood would automatically make you weak in his eyes."

For a long moment, Inuyasha did not speak and had I not been able to see his open eyes, I would have thought he had fallen asleep. When he finally spoke again, I did not need demonic hearing to pick up thesis depressive tone. "But he's my brother," he insisted and only because I knew him so well, I could tell he wanted to cry.

Cupping both of his cheeks in my hands to make sure he was looking directly at me and giving me his full attention, I gently kissed him on the forehead before assuring him, "Sesshoumaru is a very intelligent demon. And one day I am sure he will see the error of his thinking."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then you will still always have been. Even if you never know your brother's love, I promise you that I have enough love for both of us. And it is all for you."


	9. The Spring of Youth, the rebirth of the

Title: The Spring of Youth, the rebirth of the future  
Author: Hairann  
Prompt: Spring  
Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort  
AU/CU: CU/Divergence  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Set in past tense,  
Word Count: 3400  
Summary: Kagome finally tells Sesshoumaru that he is not welcome.  
Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 9 of Rewriting History.

* * *

The spring arrived without another visit from Sesshoumaru or attempt to run away by Inuyasha. Looking back on it now, I am sure a lot of it was due to the fact that we were cramped up in the hut for the majority of the time due to the weather. And it did not help that I was not giving Inuyasha the chance to be able to do things on his own.

It took a while for me, but I was finally able to let to and let the poor boy grow. I stopped fighting it when he wished to go hunting or fishing by himself, he no longer had to be in before it got dark and I did not worry when I have to leave him 'alone'. He was never truly by himself since Jaken always went with him, but I think he considered Jaken to be his own age even though I was sure they were no where near the same.

I would not be surprised if it was his height alone that threw him off, but either way it was not important. What was, was that I was finally leaving home 'alone' for an entire night while I went to the future. It was not time for the new moon yet, but he had outgrown all of his clothes from the year before already.

I knew that even with the shopping I would need to do, I could easily get home without leaving them by themselves all night, but I figured it was the final test. It would make sure that he knew I trusted he could take care of himself and it would let me see if I could handle being away all night.

After reminding them to stay out of trouble and that there was food warming over the fire for dinner, I kissed both of them on the forehead and started making my way toward the well. It still felt a bit weird to treat Jaken the same way I did Inuyasha, especially since I tended to still think of the older one, but I had noticed he felt very put out when I did not include him.

When I tuck Inuyasha in at night, he is tucked in. When I kiss him goodnight, he is missed goodnight. When I read a bedtime story, it is read to both of them. But the one really good thing I have noticed is that when Inuyasha waits for permission to do something, Jaken waits. When he is told not to do something, Jaken does not try to do it either.

But even with as strange as it was to have him there with us, honestly I would not have traded him for anything. He kept Inuyasha busy and they wore each other out each day but chasing each other around the yard. Bedtimes were easy with him around; as long as he got the same treatment anyways.

After I made my way through the well to the other side of time, I headed inside to explain what was going on to my mother and went to bed early. As much as I wanted to visit with my family and wanted to trust them to be able to take care of themselves, I still worried and wanted to get back before anything could go wrong. It seemed, the longer I was in the modern day, the stronger my sense of dread seemed to get.

The moment I returned the day from shopping and kissed my mother goodbye, I jumped into the well with my bags; anxious to get back home to my boys. But as I crawled out of the well, a difficult feat with bags in both hands, instantly something felt off. The air smelled different and, as strange as it may have sounded, the ground felt more solid that it should have.

As the wind picked up and I shivered beneath my warm, spring sweater, I knew that something was wrong. The air was too cold, the ground still too frozen and everything still smelled of winter. This was not how I left things just the night before. Things had long since thawed and plants were already beginning to regrow.

While I knew there was always a chance that we were simply hit with a sudden cold front the night before, I some how knew this was not what had happened. As I began making my way toward our home, my feet going as fast as I could with out actually running, I followed the well known path without having to concentrate on where I was going.

But as I neared the God Tree, an ominous feeling washed over me so strongly that I could not help but make my way toward it. I do not know what I expected to find once I arrived, but it certainly was not Inuyasha pinned to the tree. And not the young Inuyasha I had left behind in Jaken's care, but the older one I had first met.

If I did not know any better, did not have the knowledge of two different points in history, I would swear that it was the very first day I had originally arrived and found him bound. But the first time around it was not winter and his expression was not quite as sad as it was now. After I moved my shopping bags to one hand, I reached forward with my free hand and gently caressed his cheek.

Instantly he opened his eyes and glared at me with such hate I had never seen before. "Kikyou!" he spat, bearing his fangs at me. "You will pay for what..." he began only to stop as he sniffed the air startled as the wind picked up; apparently bringing my scent to his nose. "Mother? Is that really you?"

"It is me, Kagome, Inuyasha. What happened? I just left you yesterday," I insisted, completely unable to comprehend what had happened. His face softened at my voice and I could see him fighting the urge to cry.

"That was over two hundred years ago, momma. He took Jaken away a few years later when he returned and realized you hadn't," Inuyasha informed me and it was not hard to figure out that meant that he had been alone all of this time. I wanted desperately to assure him that I had not abandoned him, but him being pinned to the tree was not much of an incentive to believe me.

Plus I was not given the chance to speak as fear marred his familiar face and he glanced off into the woods. "You must go. He is coming and I do not know which of us he hates more. But he will not like anyone visiting me," he informed me and I could feel myself becoming even more confused by the minute.

"Why would he care if someone was visiting you?"

"Because he is the one that got me bound to this tree. He got a priestess to befriend me just so she could betray me," he explained and I quickly racked my brain, but I could not remember how much about Kikyou I had told Sesshoumaru.

Deciding it did not really matter at that moment, I assured him, "I do not know what went wrong, but I will fix it. You will not end up this way. I swear it." Standing on my tiptoes, I gently kissed him on the forehead and began running back toward the well. I dared not slow down as I could already hear a force tearing through the woods; terrifying grows accompanying the noise.

The very moment I jumped into the well, even before I could feel the power flow over me, I heard Inuyasha scream. On the other side of time, I thought about jumping back in to try and save him, but I knew it would accomplish nothing but getting me killed as well. The sound he had made would not have come from him if he had simply been injured.

For five full minutes I could do nothing but sit at the bottom of the well crying over the loss of my friend; for the second time. Even with everything I had tried to do, he had still ended up exactly where he was the first time around. Only this time it was Sesshoumaru that had interfered with his life and not Naraku.

Once my eyes stung from crying and the only sound coming from my lips was an occasional hiccup, I dried my eyes and began climbing to the top with a new found determination. There had to be a reason why I was transported to the wrong time this trip through the well.

Something had to be interfering with its magic and that something, whatever it was, hopefully was temporary. Making my way out of the well house, I began making my way back toward my childhood home, planning to ask my mother for suggestions of what might be wrong, when something caught my eye.

There were 'buy one, get one free' signs all over the place for trinkets and scrolls, but it was not the signs themselves that caught my attention, but the occasion for the sale. As I stood there staring at the sign, I could not believe that I had not thought of it myself. I had seen the signs last night when I arrived and even this morning on my way back to the well, but I had not give them any thought.

Like most people, this whole day meant absolutely nothing to me. It was just another day I barely even noticed when it passed every four years. But as I thought about it now, if the actual year I went back to in the past was not perfectly divisible by four, than it might not leap day then as well. And if it was not a leap year, did that mean that the days would not line up correctly?

I knew it was a shot in the dark and honestly it did not make complete sense to me, but it was the only option I had at the moment. Hopefully all I had to do was wait until tomorrow to go back and not a full year so that both times were not on leap years. No matter if my theory would turn to be correct or not, there was nothing more I could do that night so I made my way inside and proceeded to toss and turn all night until just before dawn when I finally fell into a nightmare ridden sleep.

When I finally awoke, I did not bother saying goodbye to anyone and simply made a beeline for the well; my bags in hand so I would not have to go back for them. The moment I arrived on the other side of time once more, I knew I was in the right place, at the right time. The air smelled as it should, it was the temperature I was expecting and nothing seemed to be out of place.

Faster than I could ever remember being able to run, I rushed home; silently praying that everything would be exactly as I had left it. Throwing open the front door, I truly thought I would die when I saw Inuyasha and Jaken sitting in front of the fireplace playing with his toys.

At the same moment he was seeing me and smiling at my return, I was already rushing across the short distance between us and throwing my arms around him. "I thought you weren't coming back," he admitted softly as he turned into the hug and wrapped his arms around me.

"I will never abandon you. I will never let that happen to you," I insisted, the scene I had witnessed the night before replaying in my mind. We I saw his confused expression, it dawned on me what I had said and calmly played it off. "I mean that I will never let you become an orphan again."

...

Once Inuyasha had settled down and fallen asleep, I took Jaken and sat down to speak with him outside; far enough away that he would not be able to overhear us if he happened to awake. "How much did Sesshoumaru tell you about where I came from?" I inquired almost instantly, slightly startling the toad.

"I would assume everything. I can not imagine there is more to your story than my lord has already shared with me. It is unbelievable enough already," Jaken insisted and I could not blame him. If it had happened to anyone other than myself I knew I would not believe it.

"Well now there is more to my story. I am not sure if it is not about yet or not, but every four years in the future we have an extra day. I do not really remember the reasoning behind it, only that it is there. Yesterday was leap day in the future, but if my theory is correct, it was not leap day here.

"Because of this inconsistency, or maybe even some other reason I can not comprehend, when I went through the well yesterday I did not end up here. I arrived about 200 years from now; about the same time I had originally gone back to. When I got there, I found history repeating itself.

"Inuyasha was once again bound to the God Tree; only this time the one that betrayed him was different. I want you to promise me something, Jaken. If something was to really happen to me and I was unable to come back, promise me that you will make sure Sesshoumaru takes care of his responsibilities."

"Of course Lord Sesshoumaru would! He does not shrink from his duties," Jaken insisted harshly, as though I had just insulted his mother unjustly rather than simply speaking truthfully about Sesshoumaru.

"But that is just it, Jaken. Sesshoumaru did not take care of his responsibilities. If he had, he would not have ended up pinned to a tree; just as I had been trying to prevent," I reminded him, only to realize a moment later that I had bad timing. Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned around to find a still half-asleep Inuyasha rubbing his eyes and asking me what I meant.

Hoping he was still asleep enough to buy my cover I explained, "It is a metaphor. It means to be stuck in one place for a long time and feel as though you are still half asleep." I was glad he was not fully awake himself since I was certain he never would have believed such a blatant lie had he been completely alert. Nodding his head as though he actually knew what I was talking about, Inuyasha whispered a quick 'goodnight mommy' and began making his way back inside.

"Do you not mind that?" Jaken questioned, catching me off guard and thoroughly confusing me. Apparently he saw it in my face because he elaborated, "A half-demon calling you its mother." Unable to stop myself, I laughed. It was not really a humorous laugh, but at the same time it was not humorless.

"One day Jaken you will understand what I have already learned. Whether you are a demon, a half-demon or a human, it did not matter when it came to who you loved and who loved you. You love those you do because of what is on the inside, not their shell."

...

Later that night, I was resting in bed waiting for sleep to come when I heard a slight rustling. Opening my eyes, I watched as Jaken made his way quietly outside. Knowing he could only be going out there for one reason, I quietly climbed out of bed without waking Inuyasha and followed after him. From the shadows, I watched their exchange. "Speak," Sesshoumaru prompted.

"She returned a day late from her latest trip home due to something she called 'leap day'. Apparently an extra day threw off the magic of the well. The half-breed was so worried about her failure to return that he cried himself to sleep. She told me that when she went through the well yesterday, she was transported to the time she originally went to and found him pinned to the tree."

"Very good, Jaken. Keep watching," Sesshoumaru instructed before turning and making his way deeper into the forest as Jaken headed back inside. Moving quickly, I placed myself in between him and the path he was taking. I waited until he had stopped, noticing my presence, before speaking to him.

"If you want to know what is going on in our lives, why not just come and ask me directly? Or better yet, stick around long enough to see for yourself what is happening if you are so interested in our lives. As opposed to sneaking around and asking Jaken after we have all gone to sleep."

Instead of answering my questions, he opted to growl at me, "What I do is none of your business," before sidestepping me and attempting to continue on his way.

My retort of, "Hiding in the shadows is weak," caused him to stop as he spun around and growled at me once more. For a moment, I thought about laughing at Gina attempts to intimidate, but soon decided against it. Just because I was sure I could not be killed due to my wish on the jewel, it did not mean he could not hurt me.

"Watch what you say to me girl or I will kill you," Sesshoumaru threatened and even though I did not wish to kick a sleeping dragon, or dog demon in this case, it did not mean that I was going to be pushed around by him either. So I did what I usually did whenever he threatened me; I ignored it.

"If you want to know how your brother is doing, then you need to be around so you can be apart of his life. I realize you can not be here all of the time, but he should at least know that you are here," I insisted, still completely in the dark about his behavior. He seemed to want to know every detail of Inuyasha's life, but only if he did not know that he knew.

"I do not come here for the half-breed!" he yelled at me; catching me off guard. For a moment I could only stare at him in stunned silence as I thought about all of the things that could mean, but eventually I mentally shook such thoughts from my mind. Staring up at him, I decided against getting into a screaming match with him and instead choose to follow a page from his book.

"Then leave and stay gone," I told him as coldly and calmly as I could, making sure no emotion crept into my voice. "The only thing we could possibly have to talk about is that little boy you are in such a hurry to abandon again. If you are not here to be the brother you are supposed to be, then he is better off without you ever coming around." Turning my back to him, I took a deep breath and felt stronger than I could ever remember feeling. Strong enough to tell him, "You are not welcome around our home any longer."

"Do not assume you can tell me what I can and can not do, little girl. Or I shall kill you where you stand," he threatened, but for the first time his threats seemed completely hollow. It was not as though there was something in his voice or a look in his eyes that assured me he did not mean it, but for some reason he no longer frightened me. No longer was he the blood thirsty, extremely powerful demon in my eyes. Now he was just Inuyasha's older, slacker brother.

"No you will not, Sesshoumaru. If you did, it would only prove you to be the monster that the older Inuyasha and everyone else had always claimed you to be." Having said my peace, I headed home without looking back to see if he would leave or bothering to give him the chance to respond. This time, I would get the last word in.


	10. Of Summer heatwaves and first steps

Title: Of Summer heatwaves and first steps

Author: Hairann

Prompt: Summer

Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort

AU/CU: CU/Divergence

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1995

Summary: A heatwave hits the group, though Kagome seems to be the only one effected.

Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 10 of Rewriting History.

* * *

The seasons changed once more and I found myself suffering through a week long heat wave. The others were either unaffected by the drastic change in temperature or, which is more likely, they were good at pretending not to be affected by it. While I was walking around, sweat pouring off of me, barely able to stand wearing my bathing suit, they were walking around in their usual attire seeming to not even notice the heat.

I found the two of them annoying me quite often because they looked nice and cool while I was melting into a pile of sweat. Eventually I was able to get over my jealousy by spending the hottest parts of the day swimming in an only slightly warmed river. What made it even better was the fact that every so often when I started to come out of the water, I could see Jaken quickly looking away from me with a blush on his cheeks.

He was completely fine as long as I was submerged in the water, but the moment he could see the top of my bikini, he would look away in adorable embarrassment. No matter how hard I tried, I could not convince him that it wasn't my undergarments and that everything important was covered. Inuyasha on the other hand, as young as he was, only took one quizzical look at my clothing before joining me in the water.

One time as I was diving under the water, I could not help but think that, other than the dreadful heat going away, the day could not get any better. What I failed to take into account was that it could easily get much worse. My ignorance did not last long as the moment I came back up to the surface once again, I found a much unwelcome guest standing just passed the tree line; glaring at us as though we had just done something terrible.

Sinking down into the water so my face was covered up to my nose, I opened my mouth wide and screamed as loud as I could. Though I am sure it could still be heard, the water did at least muffle most of the noise. Rising back up out of the water once more, I drew in a deep breath of air and began making my way toward the shore. As more and more of my body began visible, I could see Sesshoumaru's glare darkening and not from attraction.

Though it took me a moment, I soon realized it was from anger. Racking my brain for an explanation of how I could have pissed him off already, I continued toward the shore giving the outward appearance that I was completely ignoring him and his glare. Drying my hands and face off with a beach skirt, I wrapped it around my waist before finally turning my attention to him.

The moment I did, the reason for his ire was explained to me. "For someone who supposedly does not wish to rut, you have a strange way of showing it. What else could the purpose be for wearing such revealing clothing, if it can be counted as such, if not to attract a mate?" he demanded and everything the water had done to cool me down was undone just like that.

Sighing heavily, I went to answer him rather rudely when I noticed how he was dressed; in full armor, spiked breastplate and all. Figuring this might just be one of the many things he knew nothing about, I decided to take the high road; or at least higher than I was originally planning on taking. "Unlike you, Sesshoumaru, mere mortals actually feel the heat and can not dress like you in the middle of a heatwave.

"And this is a swimming suit, not a 'come and get it' sign," I insisted deciding it would be best not to refer to it as a bathing suit as he would no doubt point out that I wasn't actually bathing. To emphasize my point and get some distance between us, I dropped my skirt back on top of my pile of clothes and made my way back toward the shore line. Finding the highest spot, I looked into the crystal clear waters to make sure it was safe and dived.

A minute later, my mind pointed out that I could not hide beneath the water forever and I kicked my way back to the surface once more. Paying the demon lord no attention, I began wringing the water out of my long tresses as I made my way back up to the shore. "She is a very good swimmer. Are you good too, Mr. Demon Lord?" I could hear Inuyasha inquiring and had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at his nickname.

Though he was too busy glaring at me to answer, apparently Inuyasha had took it as him being captivated by me. "My mother is very pretty, ain't she?" he teased innocently as he glanced between the two of us for a moment with a toothy grin. If I had believed for even a moment that was the cause of his silence, I might have blushed, but knowing him as I did, I knew there would be a different explanation. One far less flattering.

"She is not your mother, half-breed. She is just some pathetic girl that will follow you around like a puppy in the future. Here in the past, it is you that is the puppy following her around," Sesshoumaru told him harshly before turning a thinly veiled smirk of satisfaction in my direction. As much as I wanted to call him childish and immature for needing to hurt a little kid's feelings just to make himself feel better, I was kept too busy with Inuyasha's confused expression.

"Momma, what does he mean?" he inquired softly and for a moment I could only glare at Sesshoumaru before finally sighing and giving Inuyasha a soft smile.

"There are many things I have not told you, Inuyasha, because the time to tell you has not yet come. One day, I promise that you will know everything that I do, but some of the things I will tell you would only confuse you to know them now," I told him before nodding toward the water with a brighter smile. "How about you show Jaken how good your swimming has gotten since yesterday," I suggested and was grateful that he took the bait.

Apparently excited about getting into the water, or at least about the prospect of bragging to Jaken, Inuyasha quickly nodded his head and began running down the beach, calling over his shoulder for Jaken to hurry up. Though he grumbled under his breath the entire way, he still picked up speed and began chasing after the now taller demon. Turning back to Sesshoumaru and making sure to keep my voice low enough that Inuyasha would not hear it over the racket he was making, I hardened my face as I told him, "You are pathetic, Sesshoumaru. You are so envious of Inuyasha that you have to try and upset a little boy."

Though I heard his growl of warning perfectly clear, I chose to ignore it and continued, "I suppose I can not really blame you for being jealous. After all, Inuyasha is the one who is loved and cared about. He, a half-breed as you seem so inclined to call him, has my love. My mother's, my brother's and even my grandfather's, who has sworn my entire life that demons are evil, love. "Hell even my cat Buyo loves the little guy.

"But who loves poor old Sesshoumaru? Who could ever love you?!" I knew the risks I was taking, but at that moment I honestly did not care. It was about time someone put him firmly in his place for the way he treated others. Even as he growled once more and his strong, clawed hand went around my throat, I still held my ground and stared defiantly at him.

"Do it, Sesshoumaru, choke the life out of me as we both know you are dying to do. It will only serve to prove me right. I can see it in your eyes, those deep, haunting, golden eyes. I can see that you really want to kill me because you know that I am right. You are jealous of Inuyasha because his parents actually loved him. His father loved him so much that he was willing to die for him.

"Did your parents ever do something like that for you? That very same father? No, they did not, did they? Your parents just left you to grow up on your own, but you never did. You are still a scared little boy living in a man's body," I insisted even as I could feel his claws digging deeper into my neck. Once I saw that his eyes had begun glowing bright red, I spoke as softly and as gently as I could as I continued, "You can still change that."

Apparently startled by the sudden change, his grip on my neck loosened a bit; allowing me to breath easier. "You can still grow to be the man you were meant to be. You can still be loved. You can earn Inuyasha's love and even Jaken could learn to love you in his own odd, but platonic way. And one day there will be a little girl who will love you more than life itself." His question was so soft, almost as if he did not realize he was even asking it, I almost missed it.

"No, I could never love you, platonically or romantically Sesshoumaru. Not until you learn to love Inuyasha. Until you earn his love and learn to love that little boy, you would not be a man worthy of romantic love from me or anyone else. Romantic love is the hardest one to learn and the hardest to maintain."

Hearing his soft, hesitant, "I do not...," as he released his hold on my neck completely, I could not help but smile at him even as my hand went up to rub the soreness out of my neck and assure myself that he did not draw blood. Certain there would be no lasting damage, I turned my full attention back to him.

"The first step is finding a complete stranger and doing something for them for no other reason than to help them," I began and seeing his confused look, or at least what passes for a confused expression on the demon lord, I explained, "You need to learn compassion before you can learn how to love."

For a long time after Sesshoumaru had left, I stood there silently staring off into the forest he had disappeared into. It was not until Inuyasha's loud shriek of excitement, as he jumped into the water once more, startled me, that I realized just how late it was getting. Turning my attention back to my two wards, I called out, "Time to start making lunch!"

Instantly two excited faces turned toward me before nodding their heads and making their way out of the water. Once they were on dry land, they quickly gathered up their belongings and started making their way over to me; not bothering to dry off or get dressed. Grabbing my own clothes, I fell in step beside Inuyasha just as he began glancing around. "Is the big demon coming back?"

"Honestly, Inuyasha, I have no idea. He has a very hard job to do before he can come back, but I do hope he succeeds," I told him as I glanced out toward the surrounding forest once more. The fact that I hoped he succeeded for Inuyasha's sake as much as his own, I kept to myself as I silently said a prayer to help him get over him being so stuck in his ways.


	11. Ever-changing futures and the fall of th

Title: Ever-changing futures and the fall of the jewel  
Author: Hairann  
Prompt: Fall  
Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort  
AU/CU: CU/Divergence  
Rating: T  
Word Count: 4052  
Summary: Rumors of the jewel reaches their ears and Kagome knows what she must do; no matter the consequences to herself.  
Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.

Part 11 of Rewriting History.

* * *

Another year had passed, just as the ones before had, and as the leaves had started to turn, I heard whispers of the jewel. It had been so long since I had thought of it, the two demons in my care keeping me too busy to have time for anything else, I had actually forgotten about it for a little while. But it was short lived as I made my way into a bursting merchant village, many miles away from my home, under the guise of a traveling fur trader.

With as much meat as Inuyasha was beginning to consume with his growing body, we had a steady stream of unneeded furs and hides and every other month we traveled to the village to trade for what we did need. Which usually amounted to new dishes and utensils since Inuyasha kept breaking the ones we had on accident with his growing strength. It almost seemed that the harder he tried to be gentle, the more force he applied to whatever it was he was doing. I had hoped the next time Sesshoumaru visited I could convince him to explain how to hold back to Inuyasha, but by then I was too worried about other problems that I had completely forgotten.

As they did every other time, Inuyasha and Jaken hide within the trees just beside the village while I bartered. They had both refused to let me go on my own, yet were not willing to cover their ears, or skin in Jaken's case, so they could come into the village with me. So instead they watched me from out of sight where they would still be close enough to hear if I was in trouble. I made my way around the village quickly, knowing they would not want to wait too long, and was about to leave with a blanket full of supplies and without a single remaining fur, when I overheard a conversation that had me worrying.

"It is true. Its previous guardian has passed on and now his heirs are fighting over who should be in charge of protecting the jewel. They say whoever possess it will be become a walking good luck charm and have all of their desires come true. It is said that it can even grant all of your wishes," one of the two elderly women speaking told the other while she looked on in disbelief. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from calling her an idiot and pointing out that the jewel would in fact bring nothing but death and destruction to those that held it.

Inuyasha had been pinned to a tree because of it. Kikyou had been killed, brought back to life and killed again because of it. Shippo had lost his father because of it; Kouga a large number of his clan. Sango had lost all of hers because of it. And countless other people had died or had loved ones killed while Naraku and others sought to possess it. Hell the damn thing was basically created by the death of one of the most powerful priestesses the world had ever seen.

Nothing about that jewel had even brought about good fortune or luck. Even though it had allowed her to meet all of her friends, people she loved dearly, knowing them had come with too steep a price. It was why she had made the wish in the first place, knowing it meant she would never get to meet the people she now called family. As much as she did not want to lose them, she could not let the jewel destroy so many lives. She would have to destroy it; no matter what that might change about her own destiny.

Waiting until I had gotten an idea of where the village was that had the jewel, I began making my way back toward the others; instructing them to follow without stopping. "Is what they said true, momma? Is there really a jewel that makes your wishes come true?" Inuyasha inquired startling me for two reasons. First I had thought their nearly whispered conversation had been too quiet for even him to hear and secondly because it dawned on me that he had stopped calling me Kagome completely.

For a moment I thought back on the last time he had used my name, but honestly I could not remember. I had no idea when he started referring to me as his mother other than just when he was scared or upset. Making a mental note to ask Jaken if he had noticed the change, I was about to answer Inuyasha's question when he continued; saying the one thing I had hoped to never hear coming out of his mouth. "If I had the jewel, I'd wish to be human; just like you, momma."

Before I could stop myself, I was crying out, "No!" startling all three of us as the other two stopped in their tracks and turned back to me with startled expressions. "Sorry, I did not mean to scare you, but you should never wish to be something you are not. You are perfect just the way you are and I would never want you to be any different."

Kneeling before him so we were looking each other in the eyes, I placed my hands on his shoulders and smiled softly before turning serious. "I love you, Inuyasha, exactly as you are right now. As you were born and as you will one day become. It would break my heart for you to change something so important to who you are just because you want to fit in or be like someone else.

"You are so special and unique. There is no other little boy anywhere in the world that is just like you and I would not want there to be. I know you do not understand it right now since you have spent your life dealing with idiots who are too afraid of what is different from them to get to know the amazing person you are. But if I do anything in this life, it will be to show you just how wonderful you truly are."

"But you will die just like my first mommy did. Long before I grow up. If I was human like you, I wouldn't have to live for such a long time without you," he told me so sadly that it broke my heart. Deciding he was way too old for his age, in human terms anyways, if he was already starting to worry about my mortality, I drew in a deep breath; closing my eyes for a moment.

Opening them once more, I beamed a bright smile at him for a moment before explaining, "I will be here for as long as you need me, Inuyasha, so you do not need to worry about that. Parents are supposed to pass away before their children. It breaks our hearts when we do not. You are correct though, one day I will die, but it will not be until you are old enough to take care of yourself. Our time together is made even more special by the fact that it is such a short time in your long life."

"But wouldn't it be better if our time was a large part of a short life?"

"While it may seem like that at first, it would not be better. There are still so many things you are destined to do after I am gone. Things you need to do."

Cocking his head to the side, Inuyasha questioned, "You mean the things you said you aren't telling me because I wouldn't understand?"

Nodding my head, I give him a secretive smile before inquiring, "Would you like to know one of them?" Even as he was nodding his own head, I sat down completely and held out my arms for him and waited until he had gotten comfortable before continuing, "One day, many years from now, there will be a beautiful woman, who looks a bit like me, that you will fall in love with. But you will not meet her for over a hundred years. If you were to become human, you would die before she was even born."

"Is she really as pretty as you are?"

"She is even prettier."

...

That night I dropped Inuyasha off in the future with my mother, since it was once again his human night, and made my way back into the past; heading not toward our home, but in the direction the jewel was supposed to be. Though I had no idea how I was going to get it, especially since there was already two people fighting over it, believing they were the true guardian of the jewel, I knew I would not be leaving the village until I had it in my possession once again.

Picking up my pace, I was going over scenarios of what could happen once I arrived when a sudden presence appeared before me and I glanced up to find Sesshoumaru blocking my path. "Why are you not with the half-breed? He should not be left alone on his weakest night if you wish to keep him protected," Sesshoumaru insisted causing my mouth to drop open in shock.

"How could you possibly know what tonight is?" I demanded as my thoughts turned to Inuyasha and I breathed a sigh of relief when I remembered he was safe in the future.

"I saw him the first night I came upon you at the other hut. It was impossible to not notice and easy to figure out the importance of that night," Sesshoumaru explained in a tone that clearly insinuated I was a moron if I thought he would not have figured it out by now.

"But in all these years, you have not used it against him," I pointed out even though I realized how stupid it sounded even as I was saying it. Sesshoumaru, for his part, just glared at me for a moment instead of bothering to respond. "You really would not hurt him simply because he is only a weak, human child at the moment." Shaking my head with a smile, I continued, "Honestly that explains a lot. But on a side note, why are you here?"

Instead of answering my question, unsurprisingly, he asked one of his own, "What are you doing? This is not the direction of your home."

"My job; naturally. The jewel has appeared nearby and I need to destroy it before it can be used to harm anyone," I explained to him, not all that surprised when he suddenly disappeared back into the surrounding forest without another word. Shrugging my shoulders at his continued strange, though expected, behavior, I continued on to the village. Much to my relief, no doubt due in part to my determination to get rid of cursed rock as soon as possible, it was not long before I was crossing the threshold into the village.

It did not take me long to figure out where the jewel would be at that moment as I could already hear raises voices as their owners argued over who should rightfully be in charge of guarding it. Deciding to try the direct approach, I made my way over to them, getting both of their attention by my words alone as the seemed completely oblivious to my arrival. "I am the Shikon no Miko and I am the one destined to destroy that jewel."

Though I was not really surprised that using the title would not work for me for a couple of hundred years yet, I was a bit thrown back by the vehement in the priestess's voice when she threw back at me, "The jewel is not meant to be destroyed. It was gifted to us by the Great Priestess Midoriko."

"Meddle not in affairs you do not understand, child. Though you may wear a priestess's garments, you have a long way to go before you can truly call yourself one if you do not understand what a great gift she had given to us," the priest insisted and I could not decide if I wanted to laugh or slap him for his ignorance more.

"It is you, priest, that has much to learn. The jewel is not a gift but a curse upon anyone who holds it. The jewel will be destroyed and I will be the one to destroy it before it becomes too tainted and others are tainted by it," I informed him matter-of-factly as I reached my hand out without even thinking and, apparently recognizing me, the jewel actually flew from their fingers to mine. For a moment, I stared down at it in silence as I refused to believe retrieving it could have been as easy as that.

I was absolutely certain that I had reached out for it on more that one occasion, wishing to hold it with all of my heart and it had never worked before. But even as they began shouting for me to return it as they finally figured out that neither of them had been the one to take it, I realized I had never actually done so with the full jewel before; it had always been pieces of it. It saddened me to think that everything could have been avoided at the very beginning if I had just reached my hand out instead of shooting the crow demon.

Blinking away the tears I refused to shed now that I would be correcting my mistakes, I closed my fingers around the jewel; feeling it heat up in my hand. "I wish the jewel...," I began before being startled into silence when I felt a hand suddenly grab my arm. Looking down, I stared at the hand that was obviously Sesshoumaru's for a moment before glancing up at him. The others, even more startled by the demon lord's sudden appearance than I was, stopped in their tracks as their hands instinctively went to their staff and bow; though they made no move to actually attack him or myself.

"Why do you stop me, Sesshoumaru? You have never wanted the jewel before," I reminded him as I tried to yank my hand free of his, but his grip refused to give. Confused, I could only go back to staring up at him in silence.

His eyes never leaving my own to look down at the jewel to give any indication he actually cared about the cursed object, he questioned, "It brought you back to this era. If you destroy it before it brings you back, would you not have never been brought back in the first place?" Trying in vain to wrap my head around the logic of time travel and getting nothing but a headache for my efforts, I shook my head as I gave up before smiling up at him softly as my resolve, to do what needed to be done, held firm.

"Even if that is true, Sesshoumaru, it would not change anything. The jewel must be destroyed, no matter what the consequences to me might be. As long as this monstrosity exists, his life and many other lives will be ruined by its mere presence alone. Too many lives will crumble and turn to ash to take the chance of letting it remain in existence." Glancing back down at the jewel in my hand, my mind wandered back to everything I had been witnessed to connected with it. Every life that had been lost, every family torn apart and set against each other, every evil that had delusions of grandeur because of the false power it promised them.

And then I thought of the little boy I left in the future and everything we had been through since I had gone further into the past. I knew by wishing the jewel away, there was a chance that I would not come back to protect him as I did, but I also knew that he had survived the first time around without me and he would do so again. Hopefully, without the jewel to tempt him with a fate he was never meant to have, his life would follow a happier path. Or perhaps if I was really lucky, my second wish on the jewel would not void the first one I made and he would still have a positive influence in his life.

Remembering the demon lord that was currently towering over me silently, I turned my attention back to him once more as I blinked back tears I could not explain. "If by chance, it does erase everything I have done and tried to do in this era, I hope that somehow, someway, deep inside of you, you instinctively remember everything I have said. If it undoes everything and he is no longer safe in the future with me, go get him.

"Go to his mother's village and get Inuyasha like I did. Learn to love him and let him love you, Sesshoumaru. I know you do not understand it right now, but loving and knowing love will make you far stronger than you could ever imagine. It is what you need to become as powerful as you wish to be and it is why you still yet do not surpass your father. Loving someone, whether it is a sibling, a child, a parent or a lover, gives you the most powerful reason to live that you will ever know. It can bring you back from the brink of everything, of nothing. It can help you defeat enemies far stronger than you and survive battles that should have killed you.

"If I undo everything, continue rewriting history for me as it is a story that should have never been written in the first place. And if after the jewel is gone, we never actually met, I hope that somewhere deep inside of you, you remember me. And I pray that I remember you, Sesshoumaru. As strange as it may seem, my life is better for having known you," I admitted before turning my attention back to the jewel in my hand and whispering before he, or anyone else, could stop me, "I wish the jewel no longer existed in this time or any other."

For a few moments, the entire village was bathed in a bright pink like that originated in my hands and as much as I wanted to close my eyes to shield them from the blinding light, I could not bear to take them off of Sesshoumaru. I knew there was a very good chance that that would be the last time I ever saw him and I wanted to hold onto the image of him for as long as I could. Eventually I lost the fight and was forced to close my eyes as I waited for the light to die down and hopefully not be removed from that era along with the jewel.

After what seemed like forever, I could no longer see the bright light through my closed eyelids and held my breath until I realized there was still a warm sensation on my wrist. Blinking open my eyes, I found Sesshoumaru still staring down at me as though he had been completely unaffected by the light. "I am still here," I commented on the obvious before a scream caught my attention and I glanced over to find the idiotic duo glaring at me with pure hatred.

"What have you done, you stupid girl?!" the priestess screamed even as she raised her bow and began notching an arrow in my direction. Flabbergasted, I could only stare there staring at her in disbelief at the thought that she would actually threaten harm on another priestess. Before I could open my mouth, not that I had any idea what I would say to convince her to lower her weapon, I felt a burning sensation on my wrist and glanced down to find Sesshoumaru's aura was raging. Chastising myself for only noticing the overwhelming presence because it burned me, I watched in silence as it flared up around him.

Unable to take my eyes off of the power that I could see and feel rolling off of him, I barely heard the priests' words as he placed his hand on her bow and forced her to lower it. "We will not fight you, demon. It is battle we have no hope of winning with just the priestess and myself. I pray you take the girl and go. Slaughtering us will yield no reward for a demon lord." Apparently agreeing that it would, at the very least, be boring, Sesshoumaru dispersed his aura before making his way back out of the village; his grip on my wrist unyielding.

Having no choice but to follow after him, if I did not want to be dragged along, I opted to roll my eyes at his back as I tried to keep up with his pace. Thankfully he did not continue for very long and came to a stop once we were far enough into the forest that I doubted even he could still hear the sounds coming from the village. As he finally released my arm, I pulled the injured appendage to my chest and began to inspect the damage when I felt it being pulled away from me once again. Glancing back up at him, I found him eying the damage with a softness to his eyes I would attribute to regret to anyone else.

"It will heal," I promised him with a smile, trying not to shutter as he gently ran his fingers across the burned flesh. Pulling away from his grip, least I start blushing from such intimate contact, I began walking again as I threw over my shoulder, "I need to get home to check on him." Grateful we had been going in the correct direction of the well to begin with, I continued on in silence knowing it should not be much longer before I arrived at my destination. Though he remained silent as well, I could feel him following along behind me and found myself wondering more than once why he was still there.

Honestly now that it was over, I had expected him to go back to doing whatever it was that he did when he was not 'visiting' us. Putting the demon lord from my mind for now, I picked up my pace until I was standing beside the well and looking down into its dark depths. As a thought came to mind, I warned him, "There is a chance that I will not be able to come back once I go through the well. I have always used the jewel, or at least a piece of it, to travel to this time. Inuyasha is with my family currently so at least we will still be together if I can not come back.

"If we do not return tomorrow, it means that we can not come back. Over 600 years from now, you are still alive and want to see either of us again, come to this spot. My family's shrine is built upon this land and you will be able to find us here." It is funny, thinking back on that moment, I could not bear the thought of looking back at him when minutes before I could not take my eyes off of him. Realizing I would never understand the illogical mess that was my mind, I climbed up onto the rim of the well as I silently prayed that the magic would still work for me and I would not slam into the unyielding bottom.

Pausing just before I jumped, I practically begged, "If we do not come back, please do not give up on trying to be a better man, Sesshoumaru." Not giving him the chance to respond, I leaped into the well and felt the magic surround me; feeling my body with a familiar warmth. Behind me, and unknown to me, Sesshoumaru watched in silence for a few moments until the magic had died down before turning around and making his way toward my home.


End file.
